The Grand Sea
by Firefx56
Summary: Once again, there's a treasure in Raftel, and the world is out to get it. With the new treasure told to have the power to rule the world, the age of pirates and the sea starts again! Characters Accepted
1. Prologue

The Grand Sea

_By Firefx56_

_AN:_ Right, so, I've been reading One Piece fanfiction for a couple years now, and have finally worked up the nerve to write one of my own! I realize it's not that good, but please bear with me, as I wrote this at two in the mourning. The next few chaptes are much better. Anyway, this is a standard Character Submission fic. You want your characters in the story, put 'em a review using the submission for at the bottom of the page. Just three rules for that. No grudges, I've alreadt got several planned. No relationships to canon. And if your character's already in a crew in another fanfic, chances are I'm not going to use them unless I think of a really good plot. Sorry, but I'm trying to foster originality. Anyway, read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, bla bla bla, never will.

Prologue: The Grand Start

_It has been thirteen years since Straw Hat Luffy and his crew of pirates found the legendary treasure of One Piece. Thirteen years since he used the power of that treasure to attempt to overthrow the world government. Thirteen years since his capture at the hands of his own grandfather. Thirteen years after the devastation brought upon the World Government which almost destroyed it. Thirteen years since his final message, spread by his crew._

_Finally now, after the world begins to put itself back together, new pirate crews are springing up in wake of Monkey D. Luffy's last words, where he tells of the greatest treasure and power of all, hidden back where he found One Piece, at the Island of Raftel. It has been said that whoever finds this new power will not only be king of the pirates, but king of the world. Every ruffian and adventurer in the land has been gathering, ready to search for that promised land._

In a small shop on Primas Island in East Blue, about fifty miles from the grand line, a small crowd was gathering, murmuring in amazement at the sight inside. "How does he do that?" a girl whispered to her boyfriend, who could only shrug in amazement at the sight of a teenage boy bolting through an ungodly amount of food.

The boy paused to let out a belch, before ravenously digging back into his food. If one were to look closely at him, they would see that he was pretty slim, especially for the amount of food he was consuming. Other then that, he looked relatively normal, with a mop of blueish-blackish hair venturing onto a calm, oval-shaped face, making him look younger then his sixteen years. Light brown, tired eyes blinked rapidly, almost in beat with the pace of the meal.

After consuming several more full courses, the boy stood up, brushing crumbs off his cut-off t-shirt and shorts. He then made as if to walk away, but was quickly stopped by the elderly shopkeeper's hand on his shoulder. "Son, you've eaten a lot of food. That's going to cost you 366 Belli. Cash only."

The boy turned around, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry, Mister. I'm afraid I'm broke."

The old man's face began to turn white as he gasped. "B-but how are you going to pay for all this food?"

Suddenly, the bells in the tower overlooking the town began to ring, and calls of "Raiding pirates!" began to echo among the buildings. The boy flashed a confident grin at the shopkeeper. "Tell you what, Gramps. If I stop those raiders, will you waive the fee?" Without waiting for an answer, the boy strolled off towards the harbor, ignoring the sputtering old man as he strapped a large wooden staff to his back. One of the people in the crowd gave the old man a friendly nudge. "Don't worry about it, Tom. You should be able to get a pretty good price for his dead body."

The young pirate captain laughed as he directed his crew to plunder the town, ready to search for gold to add to his already massive supply. "These hicks don't know how to deal with a real pirate," he said confidently as he swaggered towards the town entrance, followed by his crew...only to find it blocked by a single figure. The captain snarled at the boy, who ignored him as he began to count the numbers of the pirates behind the captain. "Get out of my way, kid, or I'll run you through."

The boy barely bothered listening, as he finished counting. "Twelve, thirteen..fourteen in all. Right, down to business." He took a step forward as a massive grin emerged on his face, seeming to change his roundish face to one much more angular and fierce. "Ahh, it's been a while since I had a good fight... two things. One, my name isn't kid. It's Hiruto Shoji. And second, I'm going to need to liberate you of your ship, and all your valuables. I believe it's been almost two years since I made that promise, and I think I'd better fulfil it."

The pirate captain started to chuckle, then obnoxiously roared with laughter, wiping tears form his eyes. "YOU? Steal my ship, ahhhaha..." He nodded to one of the nearby pirates. "You. Shoot him." The aforementioned crewmember quickly drew his gun and fired several round directly at Hiruto. Before the bullets could reach him, however, a blur of motion flashed, and he threw the bullets on the ground.

The young captain backed up slightly, but stood his ground, conscious of the mob behind him. "You won't live to see the next day, twerp! No little kid crosses Captain Tremour and his crew!"

Once more, the grin crossed Hiruto's face, but it seemed angry this time. He drew his staff from his back, and began spinning it, staring angrily at Tremour while a green energy formed around his staff. "You're starting to piss me off. Let me tell you something. I'm sixteen, and I take serious offense to being called brat, twerp, or kid." With that, he jumped up and slammed his staff into the ground as it let out a wave of the same green energy. "Earthrender!"

The ground shook and rocked in their immediate area, sending pirates crashing into walls and posts, knocking them clean out. When the trembling ceased, only Tremour was left, having backed into the center of the harbor plaza under Hiruto's intense stare. He dropped onto his rear and tried to scuttle away. "Mon-monster..."

Hiroto walked up to him, leaning down. "No. Just someone with a dream to save the world. Plus, the devil fruit I ate, the Hadou Hadou no mi, helps. It allows me to directly convert food into energy, and transfer that energy into my weapon or increase my physical abilities."

Tremour shifted uncomfortably. "So, you are a monster."

Hiroto sighed, the demon grin on his face fading. "No, once again. I just want peace in the world, is that so much? Hadou Hadou Charge- Legs!" With green sparks swiling like dervishes around his legs, he brutally kicked Tremour in the face, knocking him out. "Okay, maybe I am a bit of hypocrite. So sue me. Anyway, I'm sure the townsfolk will be by soon to collect you, so bye. I'll remember you fondly as I'm sailing MY new ship." He strolled up the gangplank, snagging his backpack from the bench he had put in on earlier, and walked onto the pirate's ship, where careful examination of the one-master reveled he could sail it alone.

Right as Hiruto was about to set sail, however, he remembered something. A quick look around the ship revealed a large box of gold. Hiruto rubbed his chin thoughtfully, staring at it. He then nodded. "Yeah, what do I need with gold." He quickly snagged a few bars before dragging the box of treasure on deck and scribbling a note on it. The teen then picked up the box, facing, the direction he remembered the shop to be in. With a flash of green light surrounding his arms, he threw up the box, then was enwreathed in light as he began to spin, shouting "Hadou Hadou Hurricane!"

The resulting winds from his spin sent the box flying. Without a backwards glance, he raised the sail and took off on his new ship, shouting to the winds "Yahoo! I'm off to Novux Island! You better be there, Jeff!"

Tom the shopkeeper had just come back from a therapy session when a man ran up to him. "Tom, a crate just crushed your store! And it's filled with gold! Come on, let's go look at it! The man happily dragged Tom away, not knowing he had fainted after the first sentence.

* * *

Another AN: OK, well, I realize it's not that good, and short, but like I said, author doing his best to write this at two in the morning. Like I said, read and review. Constructive Critisism is appreciated, support more so. I don't like flames, I don't think anyone does, but I feel like they're important. If my story is bad enough for people to bitch and moan about it, clearly I've got to fix it. Anyway, submission form and example below.

Name: (Full Name)

Age:

Gender:

Specialty/Position: (Thief, Marksman, Navigator, Swordsman? What is your Character good at and what would their position on the crew be?)

Race: (Please, Canon One Piece Races only)

Devil Fruit/Weapon/Attacks: (Devil Fruit are not required. Please make a list of attacks/weapons used)

Physical Appearance: (Be as descriptive as possible, please)

History: (Again, descriptive is good)

Personality: (Include positive traits, negative traits, hobbies, fears and whatever else you can think about.

Likes:

Dislikes:

Dream:

Other: (Anything else you can think to add)

Example

Name:Hiroto Shoji

Age: 16

Gender: Male

Specialty/Position : Captain

Race: Human

Devil Fruit/Weapons/ Attacks: The Hadou Hadou no mi (The Surge Surge Fruit)

Explanation of this fruit will be reavealed later in the story

Attacks:

Hadou Hadou Charge: Hiroto's basic move with his fruit, as he coverts an amount of fuel to energy and transfers it to a body part which needs extra strength, speed, or toughness.

Hadou Hadou Hurricane: Hiroto sends a large amount of energy to his legs and spins so fast, winds rotate around him and gust in a direction. This is not very damaging, as it only makes wind, but it can be used for other purposes besides battle, such as sending wind into the sails of a ship

Earthrender: Hiroto sends energy to his the tip of his staff, jumps up, and slams it either into the ground or onto someone, doing tremendous damage.

Physical Appearance: He is pretty tall, around 5'10 or 5'11, and despite the colossal amount of food he eats, is rather thin, due to his powers. He has longish(for a guy) blackish-bluish hair and light brown, tired eyes. He wears a cut-off grey T-shirt and shorts, with a wiry build.

The rest is TBD. See anyone who's reading this next chapter. Firefx56


	2. The Grand Dream

AN: Thanks so much to first reviewer,ichiro92, as I tried to make most of your suggestions come to life. Unfortunatly, I'm not sure if I sucessed at anything but the longer chaper, but hey, that's what the future chapters are for. Anyway, seriously, thanks. Your suggestions are sure to help, and your character fits suprisingly well with my story. I'll see when I cant get him in. It should be chapter after next.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue, bla bla bla

The Grand Sea

Chapter One

The Grand Dream

High above the deep, dark sea, the sun beat down. Gulls squawked and fish dove through the waves. There could never have been a more peaceful sight. Unfortunately, all of this beauty was lost on Hiruto, who was lying on the deck, moaning with hunger. He had already eaten through all of the previous crew's supplies, the combination of his heightened metabolism and the incredible work he had to do in order to run the large ship finally getting to him. He stood up after several minutes, ignoring the pains stabbing in his gut, and walked over to the side of the rail, staring into the distance.

He raised an eyebrow in surprise at how close the ship was to Novox Island, the site of his promised rendevous with Jeff. Hiruto stared pensively at the fast approaching land, his mind drifting back three years to the oath he made with his friend.

His reverie was interrupted by the sound of a smaller boat crashing into his boat's hull. Before Hiruto could do more then turn around, however, a older man wearing the uniform of a Marine quickly clambered up onto the deck, pointing a large pistol in his direction. "Surrender, notorious pirate Tremour!"

Hiruto look confused. "What are you talking about? I'm not a pirate!"

The Marine ignored him, rushing towards him angrily. "Don't try to lie, Tremour. I would recognize your ship, the _Black Boar_, anywhere. Now surrender, son, and the punishment might be lightened." He clamped a hand down on Hiruto's shoulder and pushed the pistol into his face, failing to notice the green sparks twisting along Hiruto's arms. "I'm taking you to the Marine base on the island, pronto."

The resulting punch from Hiruto sent the marine flying back into the sea. He quickly swam to his boat and sailed in the direction of the island, shouting "You'll never get away with this, Tremour! I'll raise an army, just to take you down!"

Hiruto quickly ran to the edge of the ship and yelled at the retreating marine "I'm not a pirate, I'm not Tremour, and I'm definitely not your son!" There was no response from the marine however, as he had quickly sailed out of earshot.

Exhausted by the use of his fruit without food, the teen slumped to deck, catching his breath. He quickly recovered and sighed. "Why does stuff like this always happen to me? Whatever, I guess I'll have a welcoming party once I get to the island. I sure hope Jeff doesn't mind.." With that he quickly ran over to the sail and caught the breeze, sending the craft rocketing towards the island.

Hiruto's ship made excellent time, and it wasn't too long before it sailed into the island. He quickly docked on a shore and made his way into town after grabbing some gold from his stash looking for the fountain said to be in the middle of it.

He strolled through the busy streets, marveling at all the shops of the town, much bigger then the tiny villages he was used to. The black-haired teen paused at one shop to stare in through a window, looking at the various goods being offered, before being knocked down by a thud. He bit down a curse and smiled at the young boy, who waved in apology before disappearing into the crowd. As Hiruto got to his feet, his pocket seemed to feel lighter. He checked, and let out a curse. "Son a bitch! That little kid stole all my gold!" A search proved fruitless, however, and he was forced to continue onward.

As he further examined the town, however, Hiruto realized that much of the goods were actually poor, and the people looked depressed and tired, with threadbare clothes. He stopped next to a young women, wearing clothes that once would have been nice. "What happened to this town? My father told me it used to be rich."

Sniffing, the girl replied "Mama says it's because the World Government is taking all the best things, to ensure the nobles remain happy. It's been like that for the last thirteen years."

After wandering around in the busy streets of Novux Island for more then a half an hour, he made his way to the center of town, dominated by a massive fountain sending huge jets of water up into the air. Seated on a nearby bench was a peculiar teenage figure that was drawing stares. He was short, with hair so light it was almost white, and green eyes, but that wasn't the cause of the stares. No, the people were drawn to the sight of the massive trumpet fastened to his waist, and the clarinet and flute slung sword-style on his back.

Seeing Hiruto, the other teen ran over and gave him a quick hug. "Hiruto, bro! It's been three years!" He stepped back and checked Hiruto's appearance, before breaking out into a grin.

"What?" Hiruto asked, a little disturbed.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you look exactly the same as you did three years ago, minus the height."

Hiruto scowled. "I bet you're still weak, though,". He suddenly winced as he felt something cold and hard pricking his stomach. Looking down, he saw Jeff's flute. The end of it was hard and sharp, almost like a sword.

Jeff's grin was colder then the formal admiral Akoji's ice. "I've gotten a bit better, bro" he said, giving several sharp prods with the flute.

Before he could issue another one, however, Hiruto gave a massive grin. Small glimmers of light appeared around his legs and before Jeff could react, he was caught from behind in a choke hold.

"Sorry, Jeff" Hiruto said, applying pressure to his friend's windpipe."I've gotten a bit better too." The pressure suddenly relaxed as Hiruto collapsed, slumping to the floor, totally drained of energy.

Jeff shook his head in astonishment. "Damn, bro, you really have gotten better. Wanna tell me how?"

Hiruto nodded, still slumped on the floor. "Can we get some food first?"

Jeff grinned. "Sure, buddy. I'm buying." He turned to go, motioning Hiruto to come on.

The teen attempted to get to his feet, but couldn't. He made a sheepish grin at Jeff. "Um, I can't move. You're going to have to carry me."

"No."

"Please! I can't move!"

"No. But I will drag you, if that helps." Without waiting for an answer, Jeff clamped onto Hiruto's wrist and dragged him to a nearby shop, ignoring his friend's cries of pain as his face was dashed against the rocky street.

After finding a seat inside the crowded restaurant, and receiving their food, Jeff picked up his fork and began to eat, quickly finishing his sandwich. He looked up at Hiruto, and almost fainted in shock, as he saw the teen was already on his fifth bowl of pasta. Hiruto must have noticed his friend's expression, as he gave a sheepish grin. "You did say you were buying. Besides, I obtained a devil fruit that makes me eat this much. Speaking of fruits, did you master yours over the last three years?"

"Yeah, I did actually."Jeff said, smiling. "This is great! Now, we're sure to achieve our dream! You ready for the exam tomorrow?"

Hiruto gave a start. "What, it's tomorrow?"

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, the Marine Entrance Exam is tomorrow. That's why we made that oath exactly three years ago. We'd train until the day came we were strong enough to become Ensigns in the Marines, bringing peace to the world!" The enthusiasm in his voice began to fade as he noticed Hiruto's expression. "Remember, bro?"

Hiruto closed his eyes, appearing to become lost in thought. When he spoke again, it was with a voice filled with pain. "Jeff, I don't want to be a Marine anymore. They can't bring peace to this war-ridden world."

Jeff stood up in shock, knocking his chair back. "B-but that was all we ever talked about as kids! Why wouldn't you want to be a marine?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" Hiruto said, clearly surprised. He then took a deep breath before speaking again. "Almost everyone on our home island was killed about a year after you left. By one marine."

Jeff stood his chair back and sat down without saying a word, clearly in shock as tears welled up in his eyes. He nodded at Hiruto "Tell me what happened."

Hiruto pushed his half-full bowl of pasta away, and took a sip of water, his eyes never leaving Jeff's face. He began to speak in a low steady voice. "You left our home island about two and a half years ago, on a cargo ship. You planned to train for the marines elsewhere, while I decided to stay at home to hone my skills. Life was peaceful, and fun. Your parents were very kind to me and they along with my father supported my training anyway they could. About a year later, a person appeared out of no-where. No one had ever seen him before, and there had been no ships in or out in months. He just kind of.. came out of nowhere."

"The mysterious man was a marine, and he had a warrant, for my father's arrest. Apparently, he, along with your parents, led a pirate crew back in the first age of pirates, and there was still a bounty on their head. My dad and your parents resisted, said they didn't know what he was talking about." Hiruto had put his glass down, and tears began to slowly leak from his eyes, although he remained calm.

"He slaughtered them... slaughtered everyone. Using some kind of devil fruit, he killed almost all of the fifty or so on the island.. Then he found me. He used the power on me, blasted me twenty miles into the ocean. I landed near the wreck of a pirate ship. I stayed on that ship, more dead then alive, for more then a week. All I had to eat was a devil fruit, the Hadou Hadou no mi. It let me survive until I washed up on an island."

Jeff had his head slumped down, lost in thought. He raised his head as he realized Hiruto was done. "B-but, you can't blame the whole navy for something one marine did."

"Can't I?" Hiruto said angrily, slamming his fist down on the table. " That man had orders from the fleet admiral himself to destroy all witnesses of the capture. Sure, they want peace, but it's a false peace, built on lies and murder." Hiruto's skin had actually began sparking with energy, he was so angry. "I want a true peace!"

Jeff had calmed down, and looked Hiruto in the eye. "So, what now, then?" he said. "How are you going to get your true peace?"

Hiruto stared steadily back. "Jeff, will you come to Raftel with me? We can find the treasure of Monkey D. Luffy, and bring peace to this world! "

Jeff literally jumped in shock. "You mean you want to become a pirate?"

"What? No. Pirates plunder and ravage, stealing from others. I don't want to be a pirate. I want to be a... a.. a adventurer! Not stealing booty, but fighting the world government, adventuring our way to Raftel, raising a crew, fighting for freedom!"

"Sounds like piracy to me, pretty much"

Hiruto stood up. " Whatever. Will you come with me, Jeff, on a journey?"

Before Jeff could give his answer, however, a group of marines walked in, lead by the same older marine who had attacked Hiruto. "It's him! Captain Tremour, the Scourge! Get him, boys!"

Hiruto placatingly raised his arms. "Easy! I'm not a pirate or Tremour, I'm an adventurer!"

One of the marines stepped forward "We will not be fooled by your lies, pirate scum! You and your accomplice's reign of terror ends today! Follow me, boys!" Waving his sword, the marine ran at the boys... only to be blasted back by a huge shock wave and a cry of "Fortissimo!"

Thirty marine heads turned to look at Jeff, holding his trumpet. Smoke was issuing from one end of his trumpet, which he quietly put behind his back, muttering "OhmygodIjustattackedamarine. I'm dead." He turned to Hiruto and shoved him angrily, shouting "Look what you made me do, you idiot!"

One of the older marine's aides quickly approached him, muttering "Sir! Now that the two are distracted, we can take them down!"

The marine stroked his mustache. "Alright, subdue them!"

Before the two boys could react, or finish their fight, which was rapidly degenerating into slaps, they were dog piled by fifteen marines each. The older marine walked up triumphantly, announcing "Now, you two notorious pirates will hang!"

From the bottom of the pile, a thin voice floated up. "We're not pirates, we're-"

The voice was cut off by the marine giving the pile a vicious kick in it's general direction. "Save it for the gallows, seascum."

Hiruto had experienced a trying day. He had almost starved, been attacked by a marine, been pickpocketed by a five-year old, had his stomach jabbed, been dragged across stones, relived his painful pas, and attacked once more by marines. It was no wonder he snapped after the kick.

With a huge explosion of green energy, all the marines were knocked against the walls of the restaurant. Hiruto stood up, breathing heavily but looking angry. Sparks were humming and flying over his entire body. Jeff stood up too, staring at Hiruto. "Bro, how are you doing that?"

"This is the result of my training, the highest mastery of the fruit I've achieved so far" Hiruto said, beginning to walk towards the leader of the marines. There was so much ambient energy in the air, the marines could actually feel it humming. "I turn my entire food supply into energy all at once. The Hadou Hadou Lightning Charge." He stopped in front of the older marine, who was almost wetting himself in fear. "Of course, if I stay in this mode for too long, it starts to eat my own blood for fuel, so I'd better hurry up."

The marine stood up, doing his best to maintain a brave front. "The marines will never surrender, Tremour! Your terror ends now!"

Hiruto's legs and arms began to vibrate as sparks swirled like tornadoes around them, and a angry sneer appeared on his face. "My name is not Tremour, I am not a pirate, and I'm trying to bring peace! You idiot marines are just gtting in my way! Ghost Blitz!" He disappeared, but Jeff could see, for a split second, shadowy figures that must have been his afterimage simultaneously delivering a flurry of punches to each marine. The force of the rapid punches sent the marines all crashing into the walls, bringing some of the roof of the shop down.

As he stuck his head out of the wreak edge, all Jeff could stammer was "Who, w-what, h-how did you-?"

"Come on, let's go!" Hiruto yelled, quickly grabbing him and running off while grabbing as much food as possible. "Get as much food and drink as you can and run!"

Despite every instinct Jeff had to slow down and think, he did what he was told and ran. When he was safely on the ship, he turned and looked at Hiruto. The teen's aura had faded directly after their escape, and now he was rapidly consuming food to make up for it. Jeff gave a smirk in his direction. "What happened to all that junk about peace?"

Hiruto shrugged. "I made sure not to kill or heavily injure them, and none of the roof fragments did any real damage. Besides, those guys were trying to kill us." He walked over to Jeff. "Like I said, will you come to Raftel with me? I have a dream of using the Treasure of Straw Hat Luffy to bring peace to this world."

Jeff considered, then grinned. "Yeah, why not. As long as you don't go mad with power, and take over as supreme emperor of the world."

"What? No, I don't want to be King. I figure I could just use the power to establish a democracy or something."

"Pfff, a democracy? That only works on paper, never in real life"

"Whatever! We'll find someway of using the treasure to save the world and become pira- err, adventurers"

Jeff nodded and clasped hands with Hiruto. "Let's go, man"

* * *

As the ship sped towards the grand line about two days later, Jeff noticed something. "Hey, Hiruto-bro, there's something weird about that cloud."

"What do you mean?" Hiruto asked, walking over to where Jeff was. His eyes widened. "Holy crap, you're right! It's flying straight towards the ship!"

The two crewmates dove out of the way as the cloud shot onto the ship , somehow shaking it. From the cloud rose a man, and at the sight of him, Hiruto's blood ran cold. He would never forget that wispy, blond hair, those haunting, blue eyes, and the enormous, maniacal grin spread across his face. Second Marine Lt. Whit Freedman, the man who had murdered his father, turned around and saw Hiruto. Upon doing so, his grin, if possible, got even bigger. "Hey, kid, it's you!"

* * *

Move Guide

Hiruto:

Hadou Hadou Lightning Charge: Similar to the Hadou Hadou charge, Hiruto converts all his available fuel into energy. This gives him incredible speed, strength, and durability for an amount of time relative to the amount of food he ate. However, if he's out of fuel, the move will consume his blood for energy, eventually killing him.

Ghost Blitz: One of his moves that can only be used after a Lightning Charge, Hiruto attacks with a storm of punches so fast, only his afterimage can be seen.

Jeff:

Fortissimo: The musical term for 'loud', a large shockwave from Jeff's trumpet


	3. A Grand Brawl

AN: Right, well, here's the second chapter. I must say I'm much happier with this one then the first two. Anyway, thanks first of all once again to Ichiro92, who gave fantastic critism once more. also, thanks to dthehalfdragon, miami09222010, and Arashi storm Guardian for their reviews. So, I hope you enjoy, Read and review.

Disclaimer: Don't own One PIece, bla bla bla

The Grand Sea

Chapter 2

A Grand Brawl

"You..." Hiruto exclaimed angrily, staring at Whit. If looks could kill, the man's brains would be splattered all over the deck of the ship. "Second Lt. Whit Freedman!"

Whit nodded, seemingly amused. "So, you remember my name. You're that brat from the island, the one where Shoji and his crew were hiding. I got pretty good money for them."

"Money?" yelled Jeff, who had come to stand next to Hiruto. "You killed our parents for money?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Whit agreed. He peered down at Jeff, dusting off his Marine Jacket as he did so. "Money's what makes the world go round. In fact, that's why I'm a marine. Lots and lost of money. I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"Jeffery Forthright."

"Oh, you're the Forthright's kid! Your parents put up a pretty good fight. It was so pathetic, though how your father tried to defend your mother, begging me to kill him instead of her." At this, the ridiculously huge grin started to appear on his face. "So I killed him. And then I killed her. Can't get all my cash if I leave one alone."

Jeff drew his clarinet from its sheath on his back. "You monster!" he said angrily, putting the reed to his lips. "I'll kill you!"

"Jeff, chill." Hiruto said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Jeff looked back. "What, you're actually going to try to be smart for once and think up a plan? Isn't that my job?"

"Yeah, it is." Hiruto said calmly. "And so I'm telling you to say here and think of a plan or something while I kick this guy's ass. Hadou Hadou Charge-Arm!" With his arm sparkling like a-err, sparkler, Hiruto charged Whit, throwing a punch that could have split a boulder.

Whit didn't move a muscle. He just stood in the same spot and grinned as Hiruto's attack hit his chest and went right through. "What the hell?" Hiruto gasped, trying to pull his arm back. However, it appeared to be firmly stuck inside Whit's chest. "How are you doing that?"

With a puff of vapor, Whit expelled Hiruto from his chest and sent him flying. "It's a Logia fruit, kid. Before I came to your island, I found the Kumo Kumo no mi on one of my previous missions. With it, I'm a cloud man."

Hiruto struggled to his feet as Jeff came to stand next to him, calm again. "Why are you here, Whit?" Jeff said, his eyes never leaving Whit's face.

Whit shrugged. "Got a call on my Den Den Mushi to take out someone called Captain Tremour, a notorious pirate who took out half of Novux Island. Would you guys happen to know where he is?"

Hiruto stepped forward proudly. "I'm the one they called Tremour."

Before he could finish elaborating, he was tackled by Jeff. "Are you out of your freaking mind? He'll kill us both!"

"Actually, I'll only kill Tremour," Whit said, walking closer. "No money in killing for fun, and killing kids leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

Jeff backed off, dragging a protesting Hiruto with him. "What's your deal with money, anyway?"

Whit's jovial expression faded, and he put his arms behind his head. "I suppose I could tell you before I kill you, but it's gonna be quick. Time is money, after all."

_It was fifteen years ago, in a small island in West Blue. The town was filled with riches, massivly rich for a town that size, but as if to offset it, beggars were huddled in the street. Two beggars that were doing suprisingly well for themselves were Whit, age 8, and an older girl who looked like him. They were huddled over a corner, counting several coins they had apperntly stolen from one of the rich folk._

_"Hehehehe, you see the look on that guy's face, sis?" Whit cackled. "Poor sap didn't know what him him." A hard, stinging slap landed on the back of his head. "Owwww, whatcha do that for?"_

_His sister glared at him. "You're not supposed to like stealing, nimrod. We're only taking stuff from people who can afford. I gotta find some way to take care of you, ever since mom and dad died."_

_Whit's expression softened. "Yeah sis, I know. Once I grow up, I'm gonna be the richest guy in the world, and I'm gonna buy you everything you want."_

_His sister grinned at him and ruffled his hair. "Course you will, kid. Now come on, we got to get to the safe house."_

_Laughing, Whit ran across the road, and beckoned to his sister. She followed, grinning at his antics. He turned around and was about to go forward, but a large crash rang through the town. Running back to his sister, he found her unconcious, with a bloody gash in her side and a wagon speeding off in the distance, anxious to escape a fine._

_Crying, Whit poked his sister. "Come on sis, get up! Please!" He gulped and wiped a hand across his face. "You promised-sniff-you would take care of me!" His sister groaned a little and rolled over. At this, the eight-year-old's face li tup with hope. "Don't worry, sis, I'll get you to a doctor." He maneuvered her best he could onto his back and half-carried, half-dragged her to the nearest doctor's clinic._

_Laying his sister gently on the floor inside his clinic, Whit ran up to the doctor and tugged on his coat. The doctor glanced down dismissivly. "Yes, what is it?"_

_"Please, help my sister!" Whit begged. "She got hit my a carridge!"_

_The doctor cast a quick glance at his sister, and his brow wrinkled. "Yes, well, that's going to cost you 3,600 belli."_

_"But, I'm just a kid! I don't have that kind of money!"_

_"Well then, I suggest you get your sister out of my clinic. I have a noble with an infected toenail coming, and she's dirtying up my nice clean floor."_

_One of the doctor's assistants grabbed Whit and his unconcious sister and threw them out the door. His sister gave a groan as she hit the hard ground, then fell silent. Whit put his sister's head in his lap and began crying again as the life drained out of her. "Sis... please don't go...I'm sorry, I'll be a good boy. I'll get all the money we need. Just, just plese don't die. Help! Somebody Help me, please!"_

_But everyone in the village ignored the little boy crying, walking around him like he dind't exist._

"My sister died that day." Whit said angrily. "Because a little boy didn't have enough money to save her. I made a vow that day. I would get all the money in the world, and I would have the power. Because money is that-power. Money is life and death, riches and rags. And once I have all the money in the world, I'll show those rich folks what it means to suffer."

Jeff raised his hand. "But, the Marines serve the rich, don't they?"

Whit nodded. "Right, but this job is just a means to an end. It's all for my sister."

Hiruto yawned. "Cry me a river. Build a bridge. **Get over it."**

"What did you say?" Whit roared angrily, his pale eyes catching fire

Hiruto seemed both angry and bored. "You're evil, dude. You don't get a sob story"

"Alright, kid" Whit said furiously. Little bits of water from his body were actually vaporizing, he was so angry. "I was thinking about bringing you in alive, but I see that's not the case. **You die now**. Cloudy Fist!" Whit's hand began to bubble and grow, and as it reached almost five feet across, he slammed it hard into the boys, who were sent flying across the deck.

As they skidded to a stop, Hiruto acted first. As green sparks flew around his arms and legs, he yelled "Hadou Hadou Burst!" and disappeared, before reappearing in front of Whit's face and firing a flurry of punches.

Whit dodged or blocked most of the attacks, with the ones that got through simply passing through his cloud-like body . He gave a quick punch to Hiruto, the jumped back, extending his arms in front of him. "Time to die now, kid. Precipitation: Blizzard!"

A colosal storm of wind, snow, and ice erupted from his hands, sending Hiruto flying into the cabin. Without waiting for him to get up, Whit stalked over and grabbed him, putting a finger under his chin. "Sorry, kid, I'll try and make it quick." He was interrupted, however, by a cry of "Fortissimo!" and a sonic blast which actually blew apart his body. Reforming, he threw the groaning Hiruto aside and glared at Jeff. "What was that attack?"

Jeff put the trumpet aside and drew his clarinet. "I ate the Kyuko Kyuko no mi, the Tune Tune Fruit. It allows me to manipulate sound and create effects with my music." He took a deep breath and blew rapidly into the clarinet, yelling "Staccato!"

Holes appeared throughout Whit's body as if he was hit by a machine gun, but they almost immediantly filled with cloud and healed. "Weak," he said, the grin back on his face, "but a good effort". He ran towards Jeff, launching a two-footed kick at his face. Jeff blocked the kick with his clarinet, then drew his flute and swiped at Whit's neck, creating a large gash that spilled cloud.

"Careful," Jeff said, holding his clarinet and flute like swords. "I'm a pretty good swordsman, too."

Whit shook his head slowly. "Haven't you learned? I'm a cloud man, nothing can hurt me." His fist almost doubling in size as it swelled with clouds, he grabbed Jeff by the face and hurled him hard towards Hiruto, who was just getting to his feet.

Hiruto moaned, shoving Jeff off him. "What do we do, plan master? He's going to kill us."

Jeff stood up "No, man, he's not. What happened to that determination to bring peace to the world?"

Hiruto sighed, standing up also. "Yeah, you're right. I suppose I'd better try hard. So, how do we hurt him?"

Jeff grinned. "Like this." he said, whispering in Hiruto's ear.

"OH!" Hiruto said, the light dawning in his eyes. "Why didn't I think of that? Hadou Hadou Charge- Legs!" He zipped off towards Whit, who raised his fists in anticipation.

Instead of punching him, however, with green sparks shooting off his legs, Hiruto zipped in a circle around Whit, going faster and faster. "Hadou Hadou Great Hurricane!" he called, as the winds began to circle around Whit and form a vortex.

Whit looked confused. "What are you doing, kid?" He tried to fly out of the vortex, but realized he couldn't, as the winds and pressure forced his body into one place. "Oh, shit on a stick, kid." Whit said, beginning to grin. "Not bad."

Outside the swirling winds, Jeff had grabbed his trumpet. "Fortissimo!" he yelled as he directed the mouth of the instrument on the ground, the resulting shockwave propelling him up and pver the tornado. He grinned as he saw Whit in the center, blowing hard into the mouthpiece. "Sforzando!"

Whit screamed as a focused shockwave drove him hard to the deck, where he lay without moving. The winds ceased as Hiruto slowed down and stopped, panting with the effort. "Did we get him?" he asked Jeff, who could only shrugged.

"No, but it was close." Whit said, getting to his feet and ignoring the shocked expressions of the boys. "If I wasn't so focused, that would have easily me. Anyway, time to finish you guys." He teleported in front of Jeff, his right arm placed lightly on his foe's chest.

Hiruto, reconizing the pose, screamed a warning, but it was almost too late. Jeff, still in shock from Whit's rise barely managed to get his trumpet in-between Whit's arm and himself before Whit's cry of "Vapor Shot-25%!" Propelled by a cloud of water vapor and looking almost like a rocket, Jeff hit the wall of the cabin and fell to the ground, out like a light.

Whit raised both eyebrows in shock. "Damn, that trumpet's amazingly strong. It stopped both the cutting effects of my attack and absorbed most of the force. At 25%, that attack could kill most people."

Hiruto was shaking with rage. "You kill my parents, you destroy my home, and now you try and kill my best friend?"

Whit winced. "If it makes you feel better, I'll just tell my superiors I TRIEDto kill Forthright over there, and they'll let him go. Provided I bring them you, "Tremour" . I don't like killing kids, remember?"

Hiruto snarled. "I won't let you do that. My peaceful world will be one with you not in it!"

"Please," Whit said, as vapor began to roll of his body and form into clouds. "You don't stand a chance when I get serious."

A massive box of cloud was beginning to form around the two, separating Hiruto from Jeff. He glanced around uneasily. "What is this?"

Whit spread his arms. "This is my ultimate move, Cloud Cover. I control everything in here."

As he was speaking, the box finished forming. The two were now standing in a box, with the walls, floors, and ceiling all made of clouds.

Hiruto bounced up and down, trying to conceal his nervousness. "Yeah, so what?" Without batting an eyelid, Whit raised a finger, and spikes shot out of the ground at Hiruto's feet. He managed to jump away, however, and bumped his fists together. "Alright, I'll get serious too. Hadou Hadou Lightning Charge!"

Whit coughed and waved away the green sparks still humming in the air. "Whooo, whatever devil fruit you ate, it must have been a doozy. But it's not stronger then the Kumo Kumo no mi!"

"We'll see about that!" Hiruto roared, and charged him, moving at hyperspeed. "Sonic Blitz!"

Before Hiruto could reach him, however, Whit motioned to the floor, and a fist made of clouds burst up and slammed Hiruto into the air. In one move, Whit dropped to the floor, pulled out a sword made of clouds, and slashed Hiruto across the chest as he flew overhead. Whit grinned. "Give it up, kid. The money's already in my pocket."

Hiruto made a valiant effort, getting to his feet and charging Whit again. Unfortuanatly, Whit was prepared, and raised a cloudy wall from the floor. At full speed, Hiruto ran into it, and was bonced back into the wall, where chains held him firmly. He coughed up blood as the slash caught up to him.

Whit walked up, still holding the sword. "Checkmate, kid. I win."

Hiruto struggled furiously. "You can't win! Even if you kill me, you'll still be destroyed someday, because you're evil, and peace is good!"

Whit looked suprised, then broke in laughter. "Hahaahehehehheh... Kid, the world isn't black and white. Shades of grey are everywhere. You were just trying to kill me- doesn't that make you just as bad as me?"

"No!" Hiruto insisted. "I'm nothing like you!"

Whit grinned. "No? From the navy report, it sounds like you want to use the treasure of Raftel to change the world, bring peace. That's what I'm trying to do, too. If I have all the money, there will be no division between the rich and the poor. I'll make everything equal, a true utopia."

Hiruto had no answer to this, and hung there limply in place. It would be tempting to let it all go away, all the question, all the confusion. Whit drew back his sword. "So long, kid." Before he could plunge it in, however, his den den mushi souded. He glanced at it, and held it to his face. "What?...Now? Can it wait...How much money? Yeah, I'll be there." He stood back as the walls of the Cloud Cover dissolved and Hiruto slumped to the floor. "You got lucky today, kid. But I gotta fly. If you want to continue our match, I'll be on Raidiar Island, next to Lougetown, in a month. Later."

With that, he rocketed off, forming a cloud once again. Hiruto groaned and got up, rubbing his head. He walked over to Jeff and kicked him until he woke up. Jeff rubbed his head blearily. "D-did we win?

Hiruto shrugged. "Sorta."

"You okay, bro?" Jeff asked, noticing his friend's expression.

Hiruto thought about Whit's last words to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sore from the Lightning Charge. More importantly, the ship is screwed up. We'd better head to the nearest island to fix it."

Jeff nodded. "Right, the nearest island is Verde Island, about 10 miles away. Let's go."

* * *

Move Guide

Hiruto:

Hadou Hadou Burst: Hiruto sends energy to his legs for speed, then attacks with a quick flurry of punches. A lesser form of Ghost Blitz.

Hadou Hadou Great Hurricane: Similar to the Hurricane, but Hiruto creates a tornado by rapidly running in a circle instead of spinning. Large scale.

Supersonic Blitz: Only used in Lightning mode, a incredibly fast sprint followed by a single kick to the face, with all the momentum transferring into the kick.

Jeff:

Sforzando: Musical term for 'accent'. A focused, powerful shockwave from Jeff's trumpet.

Staccato: Musical term for 'short,sharp burst'. A hail of sound bullets from Jeff's clarinet.

Just to make things clear, his trumpet is for blast-type attacks, his clarinet is for precision-type attacks, and the flute is for support.

Whit:

Cloudy Fist: Whit's fist swells with clouds and he smashes it on his foe.

Precipitation:Blizzard: A hail of wind, snow and ice shooting out from Whit's hands

Vapor Shot: One of Whit's most powerful attacks, it was this that lauched Hiruto into the ocean. Whit propels water vapor from his hands like a rocket, delivering a multitude of cuts and sending the foe flying. Even at twenty five percent and blocked, this attack was able to eaisaly knock Jeff out.

Cloud Cover: Whit traps himself and his opponent(s) in a box made of clouds. He has full control over the clouds, and can make them move and change forms, but it takes incredible concentration to maintain this.

* * *

AN: Alright, thanks for reading, guys. The next chapter will begin the first arc, as well as the first submited character(s). See you then.

Firefx56


	4. A Grand Stop, Part 1

AN: Hey, everyone. Thanks as usual to Ichiro92(I really need to get a macro for that) for his excellent comments. In addition, thanks to Dthehalfdragon, Mental panda, Arashi Storm guardian, and liam butler for their reviews and submissions. Right, on with the story.

Disclaimer: Don't own one piece, don't bla bla bla

The Grand Sea

Chapter 3

A Grand Stop

Verde Island, as far as Hiruto and Jeff could tell from a distance, more then lived up to its name. From a distance, the island looked lush and green, full of life, with a small but thriving fishing village sprawled along its shore. A tall mountain overlooked the island. While they set the sail and prepared for landing, however, Jeff had a few questions to ask Hiruto.

"What did you mean, sorta? How did you beat him?" he inquired, the two sitting near the wheel as the ship soared towards the shore. "We're still alive, so I'm gonna assume you won, right?"

Hiruto slowly shook his head. "He beat me. It wasn't even close. I put everything I had into my last two attacks, and he brushed them off like they were nothing. He pinned me to a wall, with a sword in my face."

"But you won, right? You turned the tables on him."

"No. He let me go, like I wasn't even worth the effort. Just some rat he could trap again, whenever he felt like it. But that's the worst of it. He said some stuff to me, stuff that I'm going to need to think about for a while."

"Oh." Jeff shifted uncomfortably. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"No. Help me dock the boat."

Working together, the two managed to dock the boat, and they surveyed the damage. "OK, nothing major," Jeff said after a moment's thought. "Busted railing, a few holes in the cabin, chipped paint. We don't even need a carpenter, all we need is some tools and wood. We should probably stock up on food and stuff while we're here, too. Right, Hiruto? Hiruto?

"What? Oh, yeah, sure." Hiruto agreed, still thinking about his answer to Whit's question. "Let's head into town."

Jeff nodded, then froze. They were surrounded by a cavernous jungle. "Umm, where is the town?"

"Beats me,"Hiruto said, shrugging. "You decide."

Jeff groaned. "Dude, what ever is bothering you, forget it. Anyway, I think it's this way." He picked a direction and began following it, looking for a path. Hiruto followed, doing his best to forget Whit's words. Unfortunately, he was so caught up in thought, he didn't notice the small, extremely poisonous snake drop down from a tree and land on his shoulder. Jeff, however, did, and let out a surprisingly shrill scream. Hiruto turned, laughing. " Jeff, please don't tell me that was you."

Jeff, his face white, drew his trumpet. "Bro, you h-h-have a Emerald Viper on your shoulder. That thing's so poisonous, it eats scorpions!"

"Okay, what do I do?" Hiruto said, freezing in place. "Can't you do anything about it."

Jeff nodded shakily. "Yeah, I'll try and blow it off your shoulder." He set the trumpet his lips.

Hiruto visibly paled. "Wait, Jeff, that's not-,"

He was quickly cut off by Jeff' s cry of "Sforzando!", accompanied by a shock wave that sent both the viper and Hiruto flying off into the jungle.

"Owww..." Hiruto moaned, rolling over. "Jeff, you're an idiot..."

Jeff came running up, panting and clutching his trumpet. "Hey!" he said, brightening noticeably. "You found the path!"

Hiruto looked behind him, and saw a well-worn path going in the direction of the village. "Huh. Guess I did." He climbed to his feet, and starting walking into the path. "Hey, Jeff, I never knew you were scared of snakes."

"Shut up."

"I mean, it seems kind of a wimpy thing to be-"

"Shut the hell up!"

After several hours of walking, Hiruto finally sat down on a rock, exhausted. Jeff turned and came back, a grin on his face. "Why Hiruto, I never knew you were afraid of walking."

Hiruto groaned. "Okay, first? No, man, just no. Second of all, I need food. Can't you check how far we are or something?"

Jeff surveyed the path ahead, then nodded. "Yeah, there's a clearing ahead. I should be able to check it out." He walked over to the aforementioned spot, and pulled out his flute. Whispering "Arpeggio", he blew several light notes into the mouthpiece, and soon began to float up into the sky. Once past the tree line, he glanced around the area, still puffing lightly into his flute, before descending. "It's about a mile further." he yelled to Hiruto.

Groaning, the black-haired teen got to his feet. "Alright, we better get going."

After wandering through the jungle for the aforementioned mile, the teens finally burst out into the sunshine-filled air of the village. A beach filled with fishing boats was nearby, far too small for their ship to dock in, but large enough to meet the fishing requirements of the town. Jeff grinned, sniffing the breeze. "Ahhh, smell that sea air?"

Hiruto nodded, starting to salivate. "Yeah, I'm smelling fried fish! I'll go get lunch, while you get the supplies." With that, he ran over to a nearby bar.

Jeff sighed. "Typical. Three years later, he still leaves me to do the dirty work."

Inside the bar, Hiruto quickly grabbed a table and flagged down a serving lady. "Excuse me, miss, I'll take a big plate of your finest fish medley, grilled charcoal-style." The lady nodded, and rushed off to take other orders. It wasn't long though, before a plate of something burned and steaming that bore only a slight resemblance to fish was plopped down in front of him.

Gingerly, Hiruto poked at the mess. "Oh, I am NOT eating this." He stood up, grabbing the plate and strode over to the kitchen,, kicking the door in. Running over to the nearest cook, he shoved the mess in his face. "I'm sorry, but what is this? I ordered a charcoal-grilled fish medley. This looks like a small perch cooked on a skewer!"

The chef gulped. "Um, sir, that's because it is a small perch cooked on a skewer."

"What? Why?"

"Bandits, sir, terribly sorry. They've stolen all our fishing nets and ovens."

"...you're joking, right?"

"No sir, they have us bamboozled as well. They're hiding in the hills right now."

Hiruto nodded, his expression inscrutable. "One more question. Will I actually have to pay for this slop?"

Jeff strode to the third and last shop in the village, a frown clearly marked on his face. He rapped the window in order to get the shopkeeper's attention. "Excuse me, do you have any wood, hammers, or nails for sale?"

The shopkeeper fidgeted uncomfortably. "Umm, well, about that, we don't."

"Let me guess-Bandits." Jeff said with a sigh. " Have they stolen everything in town?"

The shopkeeper shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah. All of our goods more advanced then wagons have been taken, except for a few Den Den Mushis."

Jeff thanked the shopkeeper, then walked to the site of the meeting point with Hiruto. He found his friend already there, looking sullen and kicking a rock. "What's the matter, bandits steal your food?"

Hiruto looked up, surprised. "Just the ovens to cook it, actually, but how did you know?"

"I couldn't get any wood or tools. The bandits are a real problem here. You think we should do something about them?"

Their conversation was interrupted, however, by a man flying through the doorway of a nearby house, accompanied by a yell of "You try hitting on my daughter again, and I'll break your neck!"

The man rolled several times after hitting the ground, and got to his feet, taking off the odd grey bucket helmet he wore in order to rub his head. "Touchy," he muttered. "I was only trying to get a scoop about these robberies." He noticed Hiruto and Jeff staring at him, and walked over with a grin. "Hey, sorry about that, boys. The life of a reporter's filled with peril. My name's Splint."

Hiruto accepted the man's handshake. Other then the bucket helmet, the man looked relatively normal. He was about an inch taller then Hiruto, with long pale blond hair. Judging by the stubble on his face, the man had to be in his twenties, although his youthful appearance contrasted that. A cigarette was lit in his mouth. "Just Splint?"

"Yep. Like I said before, I'm a traveling reporter, investigating these odd robberies. You two look pretty capable. Wanna lend a hand to stop them?"

Jeff shrugged and turned to Hiruto, who was nodding furiously. He pulled Jeff aside. "Dude. It's for peace, and besides, the shopkeeper told me he'd give us a month's worth of supplies if we get rid of them."

Jeff pulled back, staring at Hiruto. "Peace my ass! You just want the free food!"

Hiruto winced. "It's a little of both." He turned to Splint and nodded. "Alright, Splint, what do you want us to do?"

The reporter handed them each a camera, exhaling a plume of smoke. "We're going to be staking out this village tonight, taking pictures of the bandits caught in the act. That should stop them."

Jeff sighed. "I'm pretty sure that's not going to stop jackshit, Splint. These are bandits, not kindergardeners with their hands in the cookie jar."

Splint shook his head adamantly. "There's always a way to resolve conflicts without fighting. Meet me back here at nine o clock."

Hiruto and Jeff passed the hour away idly, and it wasn't long before nine o clock arrived. They met Splint in the village center, and he assigned them their positions. Jeff would hide under a bench, Hiruto in a tree, and Splint behind a bush. "Alright, you guys ready?" Splint whispered from his bush. "As soon as the bandits come, we take pictures!"

The clock ticked on. 10 passed, then 11, and Hiruto was beginning to feel his eyes droop. Suddenly, he was awakened by the sound of coarse voices, and rapid clicking of Splint and Jeff's camera. He pulled his out, and began to listen to the bandits loot the town.

"Hey, Mark." One bandit said. "Look at all this food."

"What do the villagers need with food? Let's take it!"

Up in the tree, Hiruto bit his hand in order in order for him not to moan.

"Oh, look, there's an guy on top of a pile of bread. He thinks that's going to protect it?" The dull _wumph_ of a kick echoed through the village.

"You know what, Mark? Let's burn all this food. That way, nobody can have it!"

"Okay, that's it!" roared Hiruto, dropping from his tree and running towards the voices. "Nobody steals the food that's rightfully mine!"

The bandits, twelve in all, turned to Hiruto, and started grinning. "Aww, look at the little kid trying to stop us."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!"

Hiruto's charge, however, was stopped by Splint, who stepped in front of him, brandishing his camera. Despite the situation, the tall man looked calm and serious. " It's time to stop these robberies, bandits. We have picture of you caught in the act. With them, we can obtain a warrant from the marines for your arrest."

Mark the bandit stepped forward. "Yeah, that could be the case, unless we kill you and break those cameras!" He ran forward and swung his club, a strike that would caused severe damage to most men.

Without moving from his spot, Splint ducked under the blow and struck, a hard-knuckled blow right into Mark's stomach. The bandit was sent flying into a nearby tree, where he collapsed. Splint turned and grinned at Hiruto and Jeff, who had just crawled out under the bench. "Like I said, I don't believe in fighting. That doesn't mean I can't, however."

One of the bandit pulled out several knives. "Charge, boys!" he yelled, throwing the knives directly at Splint. The rest of the 10 or so bandits charged, waving their weapons.

Splint briefly closed his eyes, before opening them. His hands glowing white, he swiped at the knives. The moment his hands made contact with them, they disappeared, leaving no trace behind. However, this had cost him, as on either side of him was a bandit poised to strike.

The bandit on his left was blown back by a sonic wave, while Hiruto stopped the one his right with a flying punch, his arm wreathed in sparks.

"Reatreat!" one of the bandits called, and the eight remaining melted back into the jungle.

Spint turned to the boys, surprised. "Who are you guys?"

Jeff sat on the bench as Hiruto ran to the storehouse to make sure the guy being kicked was okay. "We're pirates."

"ADVENTURERS!" Hiruto called from the storehouse. "WE ARE NOT PIRATES, WE ARE ADVENTURERS!"

A light dawned in Splint's eyes. "Wow, pirates! That must be such a cool lifestyle!" He sat down next to Jeff, lighting a cigarette. "Do you raise the Jolly Roger, and swashbuckle, and steal from the rich, and fight the world government?"

"NO, EXCEPT FOR THAT LAST ONE. **WE ARE ADVENTURERS**!"

Jeff coughed, waving at the smoke from the cigarette. "Could you put that out? And speaking of secrets, how did you destroy those knives?"

"No. And a long time ago, I ate the Kara Kara no mi." Splint held up his hand, his palm glowing white. "When activated, I can erase anything non-organic by touching it. Now, about that piraty lifestyle.."

Before the conversation could be finished, the bandits burst back into the village, led by three new ones. Strapped onto the newcomer's backs were odd contraptions, seemingly made of parts of metal and wood stolen from the town. Quickly pressing buttons on each of the machines, fishing nets were launched at the three protectors. Splint and Jeff were captured instantly, while Hiruto was able to grab several loafs and stuff them down his shirt before the net hit him. The bandits ran over and began dragging the nets away.

One of the machine bandits began to make fun of the others. "I can't believe you had trouble with these pricks, Gabe. They didn't even put up a fight."

"Where are you taking us?" Jeff gasped, grunting in pain as he was dragged over a rock. A nearby bandit kicked him. "Quiet, you. Lord Orso McGee would like a chat."

Splint did his best to slide over to the two guys. "Can't you do anything?"

Jeff shook his head. "Hiruto says he's out of fuel, and I can't reach my trumpets. Why haven't you erased the nets?"

"I can't," Splint said, sighing in anger. "They're made out of some kind of animal fiber, and I can't erase organic material. Sorry for getting you into this, man."

One of the bandits leaned over. "Hey, hi, excuse me, but could you put out your cigarette? It's really a filthy habit, and the secondhand smoke is potentially life-threatening."

Spint moaned, thrashing his head against the ground. "If you're going to kill me, just do it already."

Ignoring the continuing protests of the group, the bandits dragged them up a rocky path. Hiruto, who had been quiet up till now, noticed how high they were. He nudged Jeff. "Hey, we must be on that mountain we saw."

Jeff nodded best he could while being dragged in a fishnet. "Yeah. I think we've arrived, though."

Twisting his head around, Hiruto saw that Jeff was right, as the bandits stopped at the opening of a cave. The tallest of the machine bandits stood to one side. "Presenting Lord Orso McGee. Bow down to him, heathens."

The three were thrown into the cave unceremoniously, with several bandits rushing in on each side. As their eyes adjusted, they could make out about a dozen more bandits flanking the walls, and a sheet-covered object in the back. But that's not what caught their attention. A shadowy figure dominated the crudely carved throne in the middle of the room, emanating terror.

"Lord Orso, the prisoners are here!" simpered a bandit, who lit a torch on the ceiling, revealing a menacing... two-foot tall teddy bear.

"Woah." Splint said, after a moment's pause. "I did NOT see that coming."

* * *

AN: OKay then! Splint is the property of Ichiro92, while Orso Mcgee belongs to Dthehalfdragon. I hope I portrayed them well, but If i didn't, then please bear with me, as this is the first time I'm using fan-based characters. One more chapter to go in THE GRAND STOP arc, where Orso's motives and skills are revelead, and then, the chapters are going to slow down. I know I've been updating every day, but that is not in fact because I don't have a life. It is because I decided I would do whatever the hell I felt like for the first week of summer, so I've been writing, hanging with friends, eating, and sleeping. However, amoung many other things, my part-time job starts monday, so the updates are going to signifigantly slow. I should be able to crank out maybe 2 chapters a week, less if I'm tired. just a heads up.

Anyway, thank you all so much for sticking with this story so far.  
Read and Review!  
_Firefx56_


	5. A Grand Stop, Part 2

The Grand Sea

Chapter Four

A Grand Stop, Part 2

"Woah." Splint said again. "That was a serious plot twist."

Jeff kicked him as hard as he could. "Are you freaking kidding me? We're stuck twenty miles up a mountain, in a cave with twenty bandits and a homicidal teddy bear, and you're raving about some kind of plot? What, do you think our live's a book or something?"

"Fanfic, actually."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"No, no, Splint's right." Hiruto said, wriggling around in order to try and find the bread he had stuffed down his shirt. "I can't say I expected the bandits to worship an inanimate object, either."

"Silence, fools!" a voice roared. It appeared to be coming from the bear. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

Hiruto finally managed to find the bread, and began stuffing pieces down his throat. "Oh, cute. Is there a microphone in there or something?" He waited a moment for the bread to reach his stomach, then, with an explosion of green sparks, snapped the net.

He walked over to the throne, with the bandits surprisingly making no moves to stop him. He grinned at the little bear, and stretched a hand out to grab it. Without anyone touching it, the bear zipped opened its shark-like mouth, and huge, smoking cannon emerged from it, pointed at Hiruto's face. "Like I said, punk, you have no idea who you're f****** with. So sit the hell down."

Hiruto gulped, backing away and sitting down. He turned to Jeff and Splint, still tied up. " Is anyone reaaaaallly creeped out by this, or is it just me?"

Splint shrugged. "When you've been a reporter as long as I have, you see some pretty twisted things. Remind me to tell you if we survive."

The bear, Orso, hopped down from his throne and waddled over to the captives. "Not likely, punk. Now, why were you interfering with my bandits?"

Hiruto looked as tough as he could under the circumstances, which wasn't very tough, considering a teddy bear had a cannon pointing into his face. "Why were your bandits looting all the technology in the village?"

Orso looked surprised. "Geez, and here I was thinking you had half a brain. I'm an inventor, twerp. All I need are raw materials, and I could build anything. Those net guns are simply my latest work."

"Well, we were trying to stop that, plain and simple. What are you going to do with this crap?"

"You ask a lot of questions for someone who's about to die." the teddy replied, planting a foot on Jeff's face, still keeping the cannon pointed at Hiruto. "But if that's your last wish, so be it. See that big machine in the back?" He nodded to the large, covered object in the back of the cave. "That's what's known as a Fiery Luminous Agitated Methane/Embers Thrower, or F.L.A.M.E Thrower for short. I plan to use it to destroy this island. The pretty jungles and kind citizens will burn like gasoline."

"..." Jeff said, doing his best to roll to a seated position. "That makes absolutely no sense. First of all, fiery methane is the same thing as flames, so why in Hell's name would you make it an acronym? Second of all, the whole bitter and homicidal inventor thing is a lot less scary coming from a teddy bear, and thirdly, why, oh why, would a cute little _**stuffed animal**_ want to commit mass homicide? And please, Splint, don't say the plot demands it, or I might use my clarinet to blow a hole through my head."

"You called me cute..." Orso said. His anger seemed to cause a black hole in the air, sucking in the very light itself. "NO ONE DOES THAT AND LIVES!"

A enormous missile launcher popped out of his mouth and pointed at the captives. The entire bandit squad clustered in the back of the cave, terrified of their vengeful boss. Hiruto backed up to stand next to Splint's net, fear and confusion written across his face. "How are you getting all that into your mouth?"

One of the missiles made a beeping sound as it locked on. "The Hokan Hokan no mi. Now, any last words before I blast you to kingdom come?"

Hiruto grinned, his fist lighting up. "Just four. Hadou Hadou Charge-Hand!" He ripped off the net covering Splint, who jumped in front of Hiruto, his hands blazing white right as two missiles discharged from Orso's mouth.

As the dust rose up, Gabe the bandit ventured forward. "I-I think he got them!" However, he was soon proven wrong by the dust clearing, showing the three. Splint was lighting a cigarette, Hiruto was cracking his fists, and Jeff was pulling his clarinet. All three of them looked pissed beyond belief.

"Jeez, that was close." Splint said, putting his lighter away. "It took all I had to stop those, and they still burned my hands a little."

Hiruto nodded. "Right, thanks Splint. You ready to take these guys down?"

Jeff stepped forward, his face a mask of determination. "Splint! Hiruto! I'll take care of them. Cover your ears!"

"Do as he says, quick!" Hiruto yelled to Splint, placing his hand over his ears.

Splint looked confused, but did as he was told. Seconds after, Jeff yelled "Dissonante!" and a enormous, shrill sound echoed across the cave from his clarinet. All twenty bandits clutched their ears, then fell to the ground, unconscious.

Hiruto looked back to where Jeff had too fallen unconscious on the ground. "Good job, buddy. We'll get you fixed up." Turning back to Orso, he found him unaffected by the sound. "Eh? Why aren't you asleep?"

The homicidal toy tapped his head. "No ears, remember? I'm a stuffed animal."

Even in his sleep, Jeff muttered something about 'plot consistency'.

"Whatever, dude." Hiruto said, green sparks beginning to swirl around his legs. "You're going down. Hadou Hadou Burst!"

He drove across the floor in a heartbeat, pounding the teddy bear with an array of punches. Unfortunately, this didn't do any good, as Orso was, well, a teddy bear and had no nerve receptors or spinal cord in order to carry the message of pain. Or brain, for that matter. Yes, that makes about as much sense as _magical_ fruits with _devil spirits _in them, I know.

Orso laughed, long and loud. "That's all a pirate's got, punk?" From his mouth, a boxing glove shot out and sent Hiruto flying into the cave wall. " I'm about to raze this town, and you along with it!"

"Why the hell do you think I'd let you do that? If I can't stop a manic stuffed animal, how am I supposed to bring peace to the world?" Hiruto said, popping right back up. He turned to Splint. "Uhh, hey, Splint buddy? You wanna help?"

"Yeah, in a bit." Splint said wisely. "You keep on fighting the teddy. I'm waiting till you're done."

"Whatever floats your boat." Hiruto replied, before jumping back at Orso. He launched a kick at the bear, who somehow managed to block it with his little hand things, before flipping over, yelling "Hadou Hadou Charge-Leg!" and unleashing a brutal, gravity-aided kick directly downward into the little bear's head. The force of the kick was so great, it almost tore off Orso's head, sending stuffing flying everywhere.

Hiruto landed softly, the bear's head still flattened against the cave floor. He turned around and started walking back towards Splint. "I'm done, Splint. You didn't even get a chance."

Without warning, Orso jumped on and shot towards Hiruto, flying on what were apparently jet dials built into his feet. Startled, Hiruto turned around, and launched a powerful punch at his head. The punch was blocked by Orso, who, with a cry of "Kumo Tekken!", launched Hiruto into the wall. Hard.

As Hiruto slid down the wall, gasping, Splint looked confused. "How did you do that?"

Orso grinned lopsidedly, stuffing still leaking out of his head. "There's dials sewn throughout my body. I just used jet dials and an impact dial to take out the punk."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to take you out." Splint said, dropping his cigarette. "I got these kids into this, and I'd better get them out."

"You?" Orso giggled insanely. "What's some washed up old reporter with an addiction to lung cancer going to do abou-OOF!"

"Dragon Fist." Splint grunted, his fist planted firmly in Orso's face. Despite the obvious incredible force contained in the punch, all of it was somehow retained in the punch, causing Orso to hang limply instead of flying off. "My smoking is not a addiction, bear. And I warned you."

He grabbed the bear with one hand, and held his other hand, glowing white to his face. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't erase you right now."

"No, please!" Orso babbled. "I have a tragic past, causing me to hate humans! Please, listen!"

_Three years ago, there was a scientist. He was brilliant, and respected in the community, but he wanted more. One day, he discovered how to transplant souls into inanimate objects. Seeking glory, he-_

"_**No**_." Hiruto said angrily, striding up and holding his side. "No. I _**don't**__**care**_."

Orso looked confused. "B-but you're a pirate. Pirates are supposed to listen to people's back stories, cry, and forgive the wrongdoer! What kind of messed up pirates are you?"

Hiruto stalked over and snatched the little bear out of Splint's hands. "We. Are. Not. _**Pirates**_."

He gave a squeeze. "Adventurers. Ad-ven-tur-ers. And you're going to take a long nap right about now."

Orso promptly kicked him in the face, slipping out of his grasp and running over to the F.L.A.M.E Thrower. He climbed onto the command chair, rubbing his little fabric hands..paws..appendages..whatever.. together. "Whatever, punk. It's the same thing. Now, it's time for YOU to burn. Burn up in my flames!"

"Yeah, I think not. Boar Rush!" In a blaze of motion, Splint slammed into Orso, sending him flying. He then slapped the machine with his, vanishing it.

Orso clambered to his feet, looking about as distressed as a teddy bear could look. "NO! My beautiful machine! I was going to kill them all! All the ones who ever laughed at me, degraded me, told me a nerd would never go anywhere.. I was going to make peace for me. No one would ever dare to cross me again.. AND YOU RUINED IT!"

Several machine guns burst out of his mouth and pointed towards Splint.. Who wasn't there. An instant later, Orso was swept off his feet and pinned to a cave wall, the glowing palm that would end his existence several short centimeters away. "Now listen here, teddy." Splint said, looking pissed beyond belief. "Peace is not determined by strength of fist, or sword, or gun. Peace is not won with violence. Peace does not exist unless there is care in the world, and truth. The true key to peace is not centered around meaningless slaughter, but is created with words, and strength of heart. There is a better way then fighting, and you might be too late to learn that."

Hiruto limped over, still holding his side. "Splint, don't do it. You'll be a hypocrite if you erase him. Besides, he's not worth it."

Splint glanced at Orso. The teddy bear had apparently been knocked unconscious in the brawl. "Don't worry, I wasn't going to. I don't believe in killing even scum like him. Let's get back to the village and let the townsfolk know where their stuff is."

He slung Hiruto's arm over his shoulder and stooping, picked up Jeff. The three began the long trek down the mountain.

Back in the village, Jeff awakened in a hotel. He sat upright, gasping, "W-what happened?"

Hiruto , sitting along side the bed with Splint, flashed him a grin. "We won, don't worry. The citizens of Verde island captured Orso and his bandits, and called a navy ship to take them to Impel Down. Which means we have to jet, too."

Splint nodded. "Yeah, I better get going too. He stood up too leave, only too be stopped by Hiruto grabbing him.

"Splint, wait." Hiruto said, swallowing hard. "That thing you said back their, about peace? It really struck a chord with me. Add that to the fact that you're a great fighter, and, well... do you want to join my crew of adventurers?"

Splint's eyes widened. "Are you kidding? I'd love to be a pirate, and I'll document our great journey!" He shook hands with Hiruto, ignoring his scowl. "But on one condition."

"What?"

Splint stood up, his hands clenched. "Fourteen years ago, I obtained my first start in journalism- documenting the execution of Portagas D. Ace. I wanted to share the truth of all that happened there. However, shortly after I made the entry, it was taken by the marines as 'evidence'. I want it back."

Hiruto shrugged. "Fine, sure. Do you know where it is?"

"Balden Island- home of East Blue's largest navel base."

* * *

Crew:

Hiruto Shinji: Captain/Scout

Jeff Forthright: Musician/ Temporary Navigator/ Temporary Carpender

Splint: Journalist/ Saboteur/Lookout

* * *

AN:I'm Baa-ack! Seriously though, sorry guys. My personal life has been pretty intense for most of the last two weeks, as I wrote the first 1000 words of this chapter over a 10 day period. The writing style's a little different both because of that, and because I realized how stupid the plot was. but Anyway, I shoul be updating regularly again, which for me, is at least once a week, more if I'm inspired or bored. anyway, thanks to all my reviewers, and Read and Review!-_Firefx56_


	6. The Grand Plan, Part 1

"Ok, who took the last garlic roll?" Hiruto yelled, his face red with anger. "That was mine!"

Splint, who was sitting in a chair reading a book, lazily raised his hand. "Me."

The chair he was on tipped backwards as Hiruto tackled him, screaming. "Cough it up! Cough it up!"

"Yo, guys!" Jeff called, walking into the main cabin. "We're almost to Balden Island, and-What the hell are you doing?"

Hiruto jumped off the semi-conscious Splint, kicking him awake. "Nothing. So, what about Balden Island?"

"We're almost there. The question is, how are we going to infiltrate a huge navy base?"

Hiruto kicked the groaning Splint several more times. "Your time to shine, Splinty. Wakey wakey."

"Little psycho" Splint muttered, climbing to his feet. "Alright, you know this base is a storage facility, right?"

Jeff and Hiruto nodded.

"But, did you also know that it's also the largest Navy training facility this side of the Grand Line, designed for recruits ages 15-22?"

Hiruto's face turned white, and he groaned. "Oh, please, say it's not so"

"Sorry, but I can't. You guys are going to high school!"

The Grand Sea

Chapter 5

The Grand Plan

Hiruto groaned, beating his head slowly against a stone wall. "This sucks, dude."

Splint elbowed him. "Shut up, 'son'". He walked up to the window. "Hello, my good lady." he said to the receptionist, who was filing her nails. Her name tag marked her as Mary. "Are you doing anything toni-agg, I mean, I'm here to drop my sons off at this fine establishment."

The receptionist looked up. "Alright, if you want to sign your sons up to be in the Marines, you need to fill out these forms. In triplicate."

Splint took the preoffered forms, and, with the help of Hiruto and Jeff, quickly filled them out. "Here ya go."

The receptionist took them, and said boredly. "Congrats, kids, you both are now seamen recruits. Say goodbye to daddy, it's the last you'll see of him in the next five years."

Splint lead them both over to a corner. "Ok, guys, you remember the plan?"

Jeff nodded. "We infiltrate the school from the inside, you from the outside. We meet in the nearest janitorial closet from the boiler room."

Hiruto raised an eyebrow. "What if they don't have a boiler room?"

"They will. Now bye." Splint said, ushering the two towards the receptionist and walking out of the base.

"OK kids, follow me." Mary said, walking down a hall and opening a door, revealing a busy cafeteria. "Eat lunch, make some friends, and follow the crowd to your classes." She handed them a card. "This is your room number. Now bye."

Jeff and Hiruto were left standing in a sea of people, laughing, running around, playing football with trays, playing football with milk cartons, playing football with small, scrawny kids used as the ball, and talking. Hiruto swallowed. "So this is high school. It's pretty much like I've heard."

Jeff nodded. "Yeah. We should get some lunch."

"Yeah!" Hiruto said, running over to the lunch line. He was handed something by a fat old lady that looked like it had died in the last thirty seconds. "You know, I'm not that hungry anymore."

Jeff grinned. "Let's find a place to sit."

They wandered through the cafeteria, but most of the tables were full, and the occupants of the ones that weren't gave them an angry stare when they tried to sit down. Finally, after almost twenty minutes of wandering, a quiet voice sounded behind them. "You can sit here, if you want."

Turning around, Hiruto quickly sat down, and flashed a smile at the quiet girl who had invited them to sit down. She was short, with long dark hair, indigo eyes, and strange reddish skin. In front of her lay a tray with untouched food, and a open book. "Thanks! My name's Hiru.. Uhhh... Nick! Yes, my name's Nick... Garlic, and this is my brother, Steve Garlic."

The girl didn't show any emotion, simply nodding and returning to her book. "Nice to meet you, Nick Garlic. My name is Rea."

"Just Rea?"

"Just Rea."

"Alright then!" Hiruto said cheerfully. Rea ignored him, turning the pages of her book. Frowning, he attempted to strike up conversation. "So, what are you reading?

Rea held up the book. "A treatise on the coral formation in the east blue." She returned to reading.

Jeff looked at her. "So... why did you enter the marines.?

Rea put her book down and stared at him in a mildly creepy fashion. "Why are you two asking me all these questions?"

Jeff shrugged. "Curious."

Rea sighed, a slight frown appearing on her face. She folded her book, careful to mark the page, and set it down on her lap. "Very well. I am in this academy because I hate pirates."

"Why?"

"Four years ago, I had wanted to be a pirate. However, I did not know of the horror they brought." Though her face remained expressionless, a single tear dropped to the ground. "Right before I was about to set sail, a group of raiding pirates docked in our harbor. I had never encountered pirates before, and they were nothing like I'd heard. These pirates were brutal."

Hiruto shifted uncomfortably. "Well, you can't really judge the many by the actions of the few."

Rea continued talking as if no interruption had occurred, her face still expressionless. "The pirates had heard falsely that a great treasure was hidden by my people. They destroyed my town, killing, looting, and raping, finally burning it down when they could not find the treasure. Only several escaped, smuggled with me in my raft. I almost died that day." She showed several large slices on her arms."

Jeff and Hiruto winced. "Wow. What happened after that?"

"A great storm hit while we were at sea. I was separated from the survivors, and eventually washed up here. I took it as a sign to battle pirates, and have been here ever since."

Jeff rubbed his head gingerly. "Geez, I'm sorry to bring it up."

For the first time, a faint grin appeared on Rea's face. "No, I do not mind. It feels good to get it of my chest. Now come." She stood up suddenly. "We will be late for navigation class."

Jeff looked around the room and saw she was right. "Oh, shit! Come on, Hiruto!"

Hiruto groaned. "So...hungry...need...real food."

Rea tossed him a bag of chips. "Come, we must go."

The three sprinted down the hall. To Hiruto's shock, Rea easily kept pace with the two of them. Right when they could see the classroom, however, a large man stepped in their way. He had a cruel grin on his face. "Running in the halls, Miss Rea? And you too, Masters...

"Garlic."

"Right, Masters Garlic. Not a good way to start your term here.. Oh and there's the bell." As if in time, a large bell sounded. "Late too... tut, tut."

Rea kept a neutral face. "Our apologies, Petty Officer Goldman"

"Hmmm.. Perhaps I can make exception for you, Miss Rea, considering your sterling record, but these hooligans need a lesson... a whipping would do fine.

"You can't do that!" Hiruto said angrily. "We didn't know!"

"Ignorance is no excuse, Garlic." Goldman said. "Now, why don't you-"

He was interrupted by a tap on the back from Rea. She had put on a pair of odd, black and white glasses, and was staring at Goldman, her eyes huge. "We were not running in the halls."

Goldman rubbed his eyes and blinked weakly. "Ehh, what?"

"You will let us by and forget this ever happened."

Goldman wandered away, still rubbing his eyes blearily. Rea turned and gave another faint smile at the boys.

Jeff's mouth was open in shock. "Rea, that was awesome! How'd you do that."

Rea's smile opened up a little more. "Let's just say I have a way with words. Come." She walked down the hall towards the classroom.

Jeff's mouth was still open. "I think I'm in love."

Hiruto elbowed him. "Don't get too attached, Casanova. She's a marine, our enemy. Let's go."

The two rushed into class, and quickly took a seat behind Rea just as the second bell rang. Hiruto began to doodle on a scrap piece of paper, while Jeff was content to stare at the back of Rea's head. He sighed as she answered a question. "She's so smart..."

Hiruto buried his head in his hand. "Come on, Jeff! Marine! Mean anything to you?"

Jeff sighed. "Look at her hair..."

At the end of class, Jeff and Hiruto met up with Rea. "You're pretty good at navigation, Rea." Hiruto said.

"Thank you. It's what I wanted to be, as a pirate. A navigator. We must go to our next class."

At the end of the day, several hours later, Jeff and Hiruto walked with Rea back to their room. "Thanks for showing us around today, Rea." Jeff said, blushing a little.

"Yeah, thanks." Hiruto said.

Rea nodded "You are most welcome. I will see you tomorrow, yes?"

Jeff nodded frantically. "Oh, yes, definitely."

Rea turned to leave, but paused for a second. "So, we are...friends now, right?

Hiruto grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What are you talking about? Of course we're friends."

The first real smile either of them had seen appeared on Rea's face. "Goodnight, my..friends."

As she left, Jeff shoved Hiruto. "Dude, you can't put moves on her! That's breaking the Bro Code!"

Hiruto glared at him. "Shut up, Jeff. We're going to go meet Splint, and I don't want to hear another word out of you."

Waiting in their room until all of the lights were out, Jeff consulted a map of the school. "Alright, the boiler room's this way."

The two sneaked out of their room and down the hall, pausing as a sleepy looking student passed by. They quickly found the Boiler room, and heard a "PSSt!"

Splint waved them over form a nearby closet. "So, how was your first day of school?" he asked, handing Jeff his instruments.

Jeff smiled. "It was awesome. I met this girl, and learned, and... hey, how did you get here, anyway?"

Splint shifted uncomfortably. "I...don't wanna talk about it."

Hiruto sniffed the air. "Hey, what smells like shit?"

Jeff glared daggers at Splint. "You did not..with my trumpet!"

"I said I don't wanna talk about it." Splint muttered uncomfortably. "Anyway, I've found where the top secret storage is. It's time to get this plan rolling."

Jeff moaned. "Already? C'mon, bro, can't we stay another day, or week, or month? The Homecoming dance is next week!"

Hiruto grabbed him and spun him around. "Listen here, 'bro'. You made a promise to me that you would be in my crew, and you agreed with my dream. So, what's more important to you, some girl you just met, or the crew?"

Jeff eyes drooped downward. "You're right man, I'm sorry."

Splint tapped Hiruto on the shoulder. "You know, we don't have a name for our crew yet.

"You're right!" Jeff said. "Got any ideas, Hiruto?"

Hiruto looked confused. "I though I already told you?"

Splint and Jeff shook their heads.

"We're the Peacekeeper Pirates. Now let's go get the tape."

* * *

AN: Hello! yeah, well, I realized that 2 new chapters a week is unrealistic. Therefore, I will have no scedule to follow! yeah, any way, the character of Rea come from the mind of **Arashi-Storm-Guardian. **Thank all of you for your Reviews! Also, two things- If you want a character submitted, put it in the reviews. Not my inbox. It will die in my inbox. Also, apperently I'm not allowed to do review responses, so I'll be vauge about this. As previously mentioned, If your character is in another story, odds are I'm not going to put them in. I might, If I like it. two reasons. one, I have a stupid dream of someday having a crossover. and two, I feel that both one character in two crew disrupts the fanfic one piece universe. I dunno why, I just don't like it. I'm weird like that, I guess.

Anyway, read and review, and thanks for coming this far. My goal is to get this fanfic up to 100,000 words, so we got a long way to go. Later!

_Firefx56_


	7. The Grand Plan, Part 2

The Grand Sea

Chapter 6

The Grand plan, part 2

"The Peacekeeper Pirates?" Splint asked. "Kind of a weird name, don't you think?"

Jeff nodded. "Yeah, man, it's a bit too idealistic."

"Did I ask you?" Hiruto said angrily. "I'm captain. What I say, goes."

Splint lit a cigarette. "Whatever floats your boat, Captain." He spread a large map of the base out on the floor. "From what I can tell, the storage area of the base is here." He pointed to one section of the map. "Unfortunately, it's separate from the academy, and is actually guarded just like a real base. I don't see any way of getting by the guards."

"What about these?" Hiruto asked, pointing to a series of lines criss-crossing the area above the base.

"Pfff, those?" Splint said dismissively. "Air vents. Way too cliche.

Hiruto pointed at them. "Would they work?"

Splint sighed. "I guess, if you want to be boring about it. Yeah, they'll work."

"Then that's where we'll go."

It took about an hour of searching to find an air duct within 100 feet of the storage section. Splint boosted Hiruto and Jeff up, then crawled in himself. He sniffed the air. "Yuck, it smells like something died in here."

Jeff moaned. "I hope it's not us. I hate small spaces."

He began to crawl slowly towards the storage facility, taking deep breaths to calm himself. Behind him, he heard Hiruto speak.

"Hey Jeff, pretty small in here, huh?"

"Shut up."

"Trying not to think of how small it is, are we?"

"Shut up."

"Bet you wish Rea was in here with you."

"IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, I WILL RIP OUT YOUR LARYNX AND USE IT AS A GAG!" Jeff roared. He froze as something began to creak beneath him. "What was that?"

'That' was the sound of the vents breaking, sending Jeff, Hiruto, and Splint, catapulting into a battalion of relaxing marines. It was a testament to the skills of the marines how quickly they grabbed their weapons. Unfortunately, the pirates were quicker.

"Hadou Hadou Burst!" Hiruto yelled, flattening a nearby group of marines with a quick flurry of punches. He ducked a sword swipe by a marine, then kicked him into next week.

Nearby, Jeff was having more trouble. He was too close to use his trumpet, so he was forced to use his clarinet and flute as swords, weaving in between the marines, then slashing them down.

"Staccato!" he called, finding an opportunity to put his clarinet to his lips and grinning in satisfaction as several went down under the hail of fire.

Splint was absolutely wreaking the marines. "Boar Rush!" Charging a group, he tackled them and sent them flying. He launched into a flip to dodge a gunshot and spun-kicked several marines to the ground.

When the fight was over, the only Marine left was running into the depths of the base. To Jeff's surprise, it was the older marine from Novux. "Wow, that guy gets around. Should we get him?"

Splint shook his head. "No, it will take too long." He picked up the nearest marine. "Hey, wake up. Where's the video of the Whitebeard War?"

The Marine sneered. "Why should I tell you?"

Still keeping one hand on the Marine's jacket, Splint picked up a rock from the ground. He then activated his devil fruit, causing the rock to disappear. "Because if you don't, I'll erase you just like this rock."

The marine began babbling like a brook. "Oh please please please don't hurt me! The video tape is that way, down the hall, take two lefts and the first door on your right."

Splint knocked the marine out with a single punch. "Thanks."

Hiruto got up. "Dude, was that necessary?"

"We all have to sacrifice ideals for the greater good." Splint replied. "Peace is a luxury right now."

Hiruto nodded glumly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Let's move."

The three raced down the hall, only to be stopped when they saw the older marine again. With him was a tall, skinny man with long blong hair and visor shades. The older marine pointed to the group. "There they are, Captain Helmeppo. Captain Hiruto Tremour and his crew of pirates."

The man nodded. Sitting on a nearby barrel, he took out several odd knives, looking like crosses between knives and axes and sharpening them. "Your crew got a name?"

Hiruto stepped forward. "It's Hiruto Shinji, actually. And we're the Peacekeeper adventurers.. Ahh, screw it. The Peacekeeper Pirates."

Helmeppo stood up, taking a hold of two of the ax blades. "Well, Peacekeepers, I'm afraid I'm going to have to stop you. Your journey will end by the hands of the great Captain Helmeppo!"

Jeff strode forward, pushing Hiruto aside. "I got this. You two, go get the video."

Splint shook his head. "No, man. We're doing this together."

"Go!" Jeff yelled. "That tape is what we came for."

Splint looked at Hiruto, who nodded. "Jeff can handle himself." He then sprinted down the passage, aiming to get by Helmeppo.

The tall captain slashed down at the passing Hiruto, but the ax-sword was blocked by Jeff's flute. The shorter boy grunted as he levered the blade up. "I'm your opponent."

Splint and Hiruto quickly rushed down the passage. Helmeppo nodded at the other marine. "Petty Officer, get some officers and stop them." As the marine saluted and left, Helmeppo turned to Jeff, who jumped back a pace. "Well, this should be fun for me."

Jeff nodded. "Likewise." He then puffed a short, sharp breath on his clarinet, which he had pulled out. "Dissonate minor!"

The resulting sound wave was only large enough to disorient Helmeppo. As the captain rubbed his ears, Jeff whispered "Allegretto," playing a quiet but lively melody on his flute. As Helmeppo drew another blade, Jeff moved his intru-swords into ready position.

Helmeppo grinned, then launched a slashing attack almost faster then the eye could see. To his surprise, Jeff dodged both slashes, then retaliated with a quick counter cut that almost decapitated Helmeppo. He drew back in surprise. "You're pretty fast."

"Thanks," Jeff said, twirling his blades. "Allegretto increases my speed, although it's impressive that you can keep up. Now bring it."

Helmeppo snarled, and launched himself at Jeff.

Meanwhile, Hiruto and Splint were running down the hall, doing their best to dodge gunfire from the resulting marines. Splint spun around backwards, managing to erase two bullets with his palms, then continued running. "We can't last much longer."

Hiruto nodded, then skidded to a stop. Splint paused in his run. "Hiruto, come on!"

Hiruto shook his head. "I'll hold them off. You get the tape." When Splint hesitated, he added "Captain's orders."

Splint nodded, and fighting down the shame in him, burst through the door. Behind him, he heard a cry of "Hadou Hadou Lighting Charge!" and a flash of green light. In the room, he heard a humming noise, and paused as several machine guns took aim at him.

Flipping though the air, he managed to dodge the first salvo, then slid on the floor to their bases, which he quickly tagged to erase. Breathing hard, Splint stood up, and stretched his hand out towards the tape floating in a containment field.

Jeff jumped backwards, barely managing to avoid the blades as they cut into the floor. He slashed his clarinet as Helmeppo, who ducked before pulling his blades out and swinging them hard. Jeff grunted as the heavy swords smashed into his crossed blades, before rolling to one side and clipping Helmeppo's arm with the flute.

Helmeppo winced, glancing at his arm. "First blood to you, pirate."

"But not the last." Jeff stated, beginning to twirl his instru-swords again.

Helmeppo began to smile, then chuckle, then started to laugh long and loud. "Please, you thought I was actually trying?"

Jeff shrugged. "Seems like it."

"Well, let me tell you something. I'm not just any captain. In fact, I stay at this position just to avoid responsibility. I've actually been called for promotion 6 times to date."

Jeff frowned. "So, that means you're-"

He was cut off by Helmeppo charging him, swinging his blades with incredible force. "Much stronger then you."

Jeff blocked, cut and dodged with all his strength, but began to tire. Helmeppo really had been holding back, and Jeff realized it was only a matter of time before his fall.

Back in the storage room, Splint quickly grabbed the tape with tears in his eyes. "Finally!" he said. "My tape is back!" Splint then began to walk out of the room, but paused as he heard a beeping sound from his tape.

"Warning: enter access code in keypad."

To his shock, Splint saw a large keypad attached to the tape. It would be too hard to erase it with out damaging the tape, so Splint entered a random number into the keypad.

"Warning: wrong code. Self destruct in ten, nine,"

"No! NO!"

"Three, two, one!"

Before the tape could explode, Splint, howling with frustration, tossed it away. It exploded with a sizable bang. He then twisted a punched a crate as hard as he could. "Great. What else could go wrong?"

As if in answer to his question, a alarm started blaring, and an announcement warned the trainees and officers of the pirate threat, advising the trainees to get weapons at the nearest armory.

Splint moaned, then rushed out of the room. Too late to cry, too late to think. They had to get out.

Jeff dove out of the way as Helmeppo gave a mighty slash, demolishing part of the wall. The captain turned to him as the alarm sounded. "Sorry, but I gotta end this." He rotated his blades until he held them backhand. "Swallow Cut." He charged Jeff, slashing him several times in less then a second and slid to a stop halfway along the corridor. As the boy collapsed, he sheathed his blades.

Helmeppo made as if to walk away, when he saw Jeff rise. The captain redrew his blades. "Give it up, kid. You're a good swordsman, but I don't want to kill you."

Jeff gave a faint grin, blood dripping out from his mouth. "I would listen, except for one thing." The clarinet and flute dropped from numbed hands, to be replaced by his trumpet. "I'm not a swordsman by trade. I'm a musician." He weakly out the trumpet to his lips. "Sforzando!"

An incredibly powerful shockwave burst out of the trumpet and hit Helmeppo, sending him flying into a wall, where he lay. Defeated.

Jeff gasped, then slumped to a seated position. "Woah, he was tough. I'm pretty messed up."

He collapsed, and would have remained there if he hadn't heard Hiruto and Splint run up. Coughing, he rose to a seated position. "Did you get the tape?"

Splint shook his head. "We'll talk about it later. Can you stand up?"

Jeff nodded, and managed to break into a run, following Splint and Hiruto through the corridors. Pausing at a intersection, Hiruto pulled out a map. "There's an exit right around this corner."

The three quickly ran to it, only to find it was sealed. Splint rapped the pad. "It's keycode sealed."

Jeff coughed, wetly this time. "Great. How are we going to get out of here?"

He quicky spun as he heard a footstep, then gasped in shock. "R-rea..."

Rea was standing behind, pointing a electricity gun at Jeff's head. "You are pirates?" she asked, a sad look in her eyes.

Hiruto nodded, gulping as the gun shifted to him. He elbowed Splint to erase the bullet. "Yes, Rea. I'm sorry we didn't tell you."

"Captain" Splint whispered. "I can't erase electricity. I can't do anything now."

Rea cocked the gun. "I...hate pirates."

Jeff took a step forward. "Rea..." He stopped as the gun was pointed at him.

"All that stuff you said, about us being friends, was a lie?"

"No!" Jeff said emphatically, coughing again. He could feel the blood draining out of him, and he clutched his shirt around the cuts. "Of course not. We may have come here under false means, but all that stuff we did, the feelings we had...that's friendship. That's real."

Rea did not change her expression.

"Look, Rea." Hiruto said. "Use your heart. We're still your friends.

Rea shifted her aim and fired.

The keypad sparkled as the bolt hit it, and the door flew open. At the end of the hall, marines began to pour through.

"Go." Rea said.

Jeff paused. "Rea, thank-

"Go!"

Jeff nodded, then with one last backward glance, ran after Hiruto and Splint towards the ship.

As the party of marines poured through, the one at the front stayed behind. "Rea...did you help the pirates escape?" He turned to look at her, only to find she was wearing a odd pair of black and white glasses.

She gave a smile, the first one the young marine had ever seen. "What are you talking about?"

Back on the ship, Jeff lay on the bed, moaning with pain. Splint glanced at Hiruto. "He needs medical attention, fast."

Hiruto sighed. "I guess it can't be helped, then. Looks like we're going to Radiar Island a few days early.

* * *

Well, I'm pretty damn proud of this one. anyway, the next arc is the Radiar Island arc, one I've been planning for a long time. So, enjoy the next couple chapters, and Read and Review!-_Firefx56_


	8. Radiar Island 1

The Grand Sea

Chapter 7

Radiar Island, Part one.

AN: Ok, I took a look at my last chapter, and realized it wasn't quite as awesome as I'd expected. I guess I really can't pull off splitting action, otherwise both segments are trash. Anyway, here starts an Arc I've been planning since...well, March. I wrote this story in June. So, I hop it's good. Enjoy!

Hiruto steered the boat towards the shores of Radiar island, glancing at Splint. "So, the tapes gone, huh?"

Splint shook his head. "From what I know about marines, they'll have kept a copy of for safekeeping. If I had to guess, it would be at Marinesford. But that's out of our reach now."

The second the boat touched the shore of Radiar Island, Hiruto jumped off, carrying Jeff. Jeff's wounds had started to fester, and he wasn't sure if his friend could have made it much longer. He turned to Splint. "How much longer till Whit said he would be here?"

Splint did some quick mental math. "Little over a week."

Hiruto nodded. "Alright, that should put Jeff out of the danger zone, and give me some time to train. Where's the doctor's on this island?"

"I don't know," Splint said worriedly. "But we better find it soon."

They quickly ran to the entrance of the village, and Splint grabbed the nearest person. "Excuse me! Where's the doctor's office?"

The frightened women pointed towards a nearby house. "D-Dr. Hardar is over there."

Splint released her. "Much obliged."

He took Jeff from Hiruto and quickly ran into the Doctor's office. "I have a badly injured person here!"

A tall, greying man who must have been Dr. Hardar looked up. "Oh, dear. This looks bad. Bring him into the operation room." He stood up from where he was copying several files, calling to a nearby girl working at the other desk. "Jacquotte, bring my gear."

The girl nodded and rushed into a nearby closet. Dr. Harder smiled at the group. "My assistant, Jacquotte di Jackal. She's learning medicine, and works as an assistant here. Now quickly, bring him in."

Splint nodded, and ran into the room. He placed Jeff on a table and stood back. "Is there anything I can do?"

Hardar shock his head. "No, this operation will be complex in order to treat the infections."

At that moment, Jacquotte rushed back in and handed Hardar his tools. "Thanks, Jacq. Sorry, sir, but you and your friend will have to wait outside."

"Take care of him, doc." Hiruto said, walking out of the room. Splint followed, casting a glance behind him.

Outside, a light went on signifying an operation was in place. Splint started pacing. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

Hiruto yawned. "He'll be fine. He survived a bear attacked back in our hometown, you know."

Splint shook his head. "I don't know, Captain. He's pretty beat up." He spent the next hour pacing, until the operating light went off and the assistant, Jacquotte, stepped outside.

Splint rushed forward. "Is he going to be okay?"

Jacquotte briskly nodded. She was a tall, slender girl, 19 or 20, with very long limbs. Slightly messy, greyish hair almost covered her violet eyes. She was dressed in a professional-looking jacket, with a short, odd looking coat with frog-shaped clasps over it. "He'll be fine. In fact, he should make a full recovery within the week, though we recommend you leaving him here."

Splint breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god. Can we see him?" He poked Hiruto, who was munching on a sandwich. "Captain, he's okay!"

Hiruto noisily swallowed. "Told ya." He got up and brushed by Jacquotte into the operating room. Inside, Jeff's eyes were fluttering open.

He glanced at Hiruto. "Yo, bro. Thanks for getting me here in time."

Hiruto grinned. "Anytime, man. You gonna be okay?"

Jeff nodded. "I'll be shipshape in three days. You go and start your training. We've gotta beat Freedman if we wanna make it in the Grand Line."

Hardar turned to Hiruto. "About payment..."

Hiruto slipped him the last of the treasure from Tremour's crew. "This should give him care until he's fully recovered. I trust you'll take good care of him?"

The doctor nodded. "Of course, Jacquotte and I will take excellent care of him.

Hiruto nodded, and walked out the door. "Tell him to meet back here in one week."

Splint quickly followed the captain. "Where are you going?"

Hiruto took a fast left. "I've got a lot of work to do before I'm ready to beat Whit, so I'm going to train on my own. See you in one week." As he was talking, Hiruto activated his fruit and sped off to the forest several miles away, leaving behind a trail of green sparks.

Splint rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that was weird. Whatever, I guess I'll find a place to train, too."

He slowly made his way to the edge of town, where he found a meadow. He then assumed his position, and began a flurry of strikes into the air. Several jabs later, he flip over and lashed out with his leg in a diagonal blow. "Heron Strike!" He dodged an imaginary sword strike, then countered with a hard blow into it's owner. After about fifteen minutes, his strikes were beginning to slow down, and he finished with a twisting kick. "Shark Torpedo!"

Splint began to pant after landing, putting his arms over his head. "Phew! I'm out of practice. My old master would kick my ass if he saw me slowing down like this." He attempted a few more forms, before finally collapsing on the ground."

Dragging him self up, he walked over to a large rock. Lighting a cigar, he sat down. "I've gotta find some way of improving the control of my devil fruit. I was useless in that marine base, I couldn't erase that explosion or that electricity." The cigarette dropped out of his mouth as he considered something. "Or can I?"

Getting up, Splint piled some twigs and leaves on top of the stump, then lit them with his lighter. Activating his powers, he stretched his hand out towards the flame, but only succeeded in getting a nasty burn. Wincing, he stuck the burned appendage in his mouth. "Ok... what if instead of erasing the flame it's self, I erase the molecules carrying the energy of the flame.?"

Trying again, the tall man lit a fire and tapped his glowing palm on the tiny flame. It shrunk slightly. Splint's eyes widened. "Yes! I'm finally getting somewhere!"

For the rest of the day, he continued trying to focus his powers, but the most he was able to do was make the fire gutter a little. Finally, at the end of the day, he walked back to town to find a place to sleep.

Noticing a commotion coming from the back alley, he noticed a large man wearing several gold necklace brutally kicking a women. "Little scum! Don't you dare touch me!"

Splint raced into the alley and slammed the man into the wall. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

The man coughed, and managed to croak out "Bitch slammed into me."

Splint raised an eyebrow and turned around at the heavily beaten girl, who was drawing a knife. He stalked over and grabbed it. "Little girls shouldn't play with knives."

The girl raised her head to glare at him, and to his shock, Splint recognized Jacquotte di Jackal, the assistant. "You! What are you doing here?"

Jacquotte wiped her mouth. "I live here."

The large man came up behind Splint. "You little bitch, I'm going to beat you black and blue!"

"No." Splint said firmly, turning to face the man. "She didn't do anything, and she's already beaten." There was a dangerous gleam in his eyes. "So run along before I return the favor."

The man thought about resisting, but decided wisely it would not be a good move and hurried along. Splint turned to look at Jacquotte. "Hey, are you okay?"

To his shock, he saw her quickly slip a gold necklace inside her turtle coat. Underneath it, instead of a uniform, she wore rags. "Wait, did you just pickpocket the guy?"

She nodded. "A girl's gotta make a living somehow, and Hardar barley pays me anything."

"But, why are you living on the street pickpocketing people? Aren't you a doctor?"

Jacquotte scowled. "None of your business. But anyway, I guess I should thank-"

Splint walked away before she could finish. "I don't wanna hear it from you."

Splint walked to a nearby inn, where he payed and climbed into a dusty-looking bed. As he fell asleep, he thought _"And here I was thinking she was a nice girl. Guess you can't always tell a book by its cover."_

The next morning dawnedcold and clear as he headed back out to the field. This time, he worked on his martial art forms for the rest of the morning, pausing to practice erasing energy. As the sun rose higher in the sky, the journalist's stomach started to rumble. "Wow, wish I'd brought some food."

Suddenly sensing someone coming, Splint skipped backwards. To his shock, Jacquotte walked out onto the field, carrying a bundle. "Shouldn't you be at Dr. Hardar's right now?

Jacquotte shock her head. "No, he gives me a couple hours off for lunch. Here, I have a lunch box for you." She thrustout the package at Splint.

He stared at it suspiciously_. "_Who'd you steal it from?"

A frown appeared on Jacquotte's face. "No one, bucket head. I made it. So are you going to eat it or not?"

"Yeah, thanks." Splint said, taking the box and digging in. Jacquotte walked over to sit next to him on the log. "Wow, this is really good!"

A smile appeared on Jacquotte's face. "Thanks."

Finishing his lunch, Splint leaned over. "So, I bet I know why you made this." He paused for dramatic effect. "You've fallen madly in love with me after I saved your-OOF!"

Jacquotte pushed him off the log_. "_Dream on, old man. I'm just returning a favor. So what are you doing out here, anyway?"

"Training" Splint responded.

"For what?"

"Well, you see, um... I'm a pirate."

Jacquotte giggled. "What, like the shiver me timbers kind?"

"Close. Anyway, we're facing a... rival here in about a week, and I'm practicing my devil fruit power, to erase things."

Jacquotte stood up and examined the log. "So, you've been trying to erase the fire, huh?"

"How'd you know that?_" _Splint asked, confused.

She tapped her forehead. "I'm pretty observant. Anyway, you've got a lot of practice to do, looks like, so hop to it. Mush!"

With Jacquotte watching and occasionally offering tips, Splint managed to erase the small fire for an instant after a hour. After he did, Jacquotte stretched and stood up. "Alright, my break's over. Mind if I come by again tomorrow?"

Splint shook his head. The next day, Jacquotte stopped by again, observing his training. Splint fell into a routine for the rest of the week. Wake, eat, train, sleep. However, the last two days, Jacquotte didn't come. It was with a heavy heart Splint approached the meeting place. He would have liked to say goodbye.

* * *

_7 days earlier_

Hiruto skidded to a stop in the forest. He was standing in an ancient grove, the trees some of the most massive he had ever seen. Drawing his staff, which he had grabbed before hand, Hiruto swung it a few times, testing it's weight. "I've got to find some way of hurting Whit. He'll be ready for the Hadou Hadou Grand Hurricane this time. Think, Shoji. What hurts cloud?"

He shrugged. "Whatever, I'll figure it out sometime this week."

For the next several days, his only companion a enormous pile of food he had brought, Hiruto trained. He ran marathons, punched trees, and practiced storing energy, but he never seemed to get any farther towards a higher level. He finally fell back, exhausted, after day three. "Aauugh! How am I going to get stronger? There's gotta be some way?"

"_You wish to be stronger, little ant?"_ The voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere

Hiruto sat up, looking for the voice. "Who said that."

A colossal figure, shaped in a body that could only be roughly described as human and cloaked in shadow, rose from the ground of one of the largest trees. _"My name, little ant, is Advo Diob. And offer you power."_

Hiruto backed away warily. "Explain."

The figure tilted its head to one side._ "You wish to defeat the Freed-man, do you not?"_

Hiruto nodded.

"_You carry the fruit of the devil within you. For a price, I can awaken the true power of the fruit, little ant. I can help you achieve victory._"

"What price?"

"_All I will need, is a small favor. In the future, you will discover a great treasure. I wish to obtain one piece of that treasure, for my master."_

Hiruto considered it. "One piece?"

"_Yes, little ant. One piece of treasure."_

Hiruto dropped his staff. "I accept, Advo Diob! Awaken my devil fruit. Give me the power to achieve peace!"

The shadowy figure swung its hand right at Hiruto, and stuck them in his chest. Understandably, he screamed.

* * *

_4 days later._..

Splint walked up to the doctor's, still wondering where Jacquotte had gone. Opening the door, he walked in. "Excuse me, Dr.? Have you seen Hiruto or Jacquotte? And is Jeff healed?"

The doctor looked up, surprised. "No, I haven't. And your friend Jeff checked him self out several days ago."

Splint scratched his head. "Do you have any idea where they went?"

Hardar shook his head. "No, but if you see Jacquotte, tell her she has work to do."

Leaving the office, Splint looked around. Whit would arrive tomorrow, and he needed to find Hiruto and Jeff. Suddenly, he heard a noise on the rooftop behind him, and turned around."

"You ready, Splint?" Jeff asked, glimmering with excitement. "Cause I know I am! Hey, where's Hiruto?"

"Right here." a voice called from down the road, and Hiruto ran up. On the surface, he was still the same old Hiruto, but Splint saw something in his eyes. Something much, much darker. "I've booked us a room for the night. We all need a good night's sleep for tomorrow."

* * *

AN2: Well, I wanted to include at least a hook for the fight, but I try to keep all my chapters around 2500 words, and I felt that I might not have enough material for the next several chapters. Oh well. I'll just bait you with the hook that, Whit Freedman doesn't come alone. anyway, the next chapter should come out within a couple days, as I'm really looking forward to writing the big fight scene. So, read, review, and enjoy!-_Firefox56 _


	9. Radiar Island Part 2

The Grand Sea

Chapter 8

Radiar Island Part 2: The Musician Vs. The Ensign

The next morning was sunny and clear. Not a breeze blew in the sky, the birds were chirping, and the grass was glistening. A perfect morning for a battle.

Hiruto, armed with his staff, stood next to Jeff and Splint in a barren prarie on the other side of the island. He was scanning the sky for clouds.

Splint yawned. "So, what you're saying is this guy just falls out of the sky on a cloud. Like Goku. Like a freaking anime character."

Jeff shook his head. "No, man, he is a cloud. Whit ate the Kumo Kumo no mi. All attacks just go through him. In fact, the only way we can hurt him is if his body is held together by a strong wind."

"Well, it sounds like we're screwed."

"Will you two shut up?" Hiruto said angrily. "I think I see him!"

Surely enough, a cloud was rocketing down from the sky, hitting the ground and causing a large plume of dust to erupt from the ground. From that dust, Second Lt. Whit Freedman emerged, the maniacal grin still on his face. "Kid! So you did come!"

Hiruto nodded. "We're going to kick your ass, Freedman."

Whit faked a cry of fear. "Ohhhh, so scary. By the way, you two have bounties now." He tossed a couple of pieces of paper at Hiruto, who unfolded them.

One showed a close-up picture of Jeff blasting away Helmeppo with his trumpet. The caption read "Tune Trooper' Jeff Forthright" with a bounty of 18 million. The other showed Hiruto grinning, green sparks flying like wasps around his face. The caption to that one read "Virescent Blitz' Hiruto Tremour, with a bounty of 16 million.

Hiruto stared out the bounty poster, his face growing red. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? Why is my bounty lower then Jeff's? Why is my name totally wrong? And what the hell is Virescent?"

"It means turning a bright green." Splint helpfully offered. "And no offense, but you haven't done much to the marines yet. Jeff defeated a captain.

Hiruto calmed down, and glanced at Whit. "So, now that we have bounties.."

The Lt. cracked his knuckles, his grin getting wider. "That's right. It means you're finally worth killing. It also means I brought help." He gestured to the smoke, and a coughing figure collapsed on the ground.

It choked out. "Lt… help… too much smoke..."

Sighing, Whit cleared the smoke with a wave of his hand, revealing the figure to be a boy about a year younger then Hiruto. "This is my subordinate, Ensign Satoshi Kuromaru. Despite his looks, he's a extremely talented fighter and a child genius."

The figure, identified as Satoshi got up and walked next to Whit. He was about 5'9, with scruffy red hair that stuck out in all directions. "Enough with the child stuff, sir. Geez, I haven't been a kid in years."

Whit whapped him lightly on the back of the head. "No backtalk, Ensign. We've got a lot of money to collect today, so be ready. Oh, and take care of the spare." He pointed at Splint.

Satoshi nodded. With a eager look, he twiddled his fingers, and a small ball appeared in his hands, glowing a whitish color. Winding up, he threw it hard, directly at Splint.

The journalist gave a cocky laugh. "Think that'll work?" He activated his fruit, and held his hands out as the ball zoomed towards him.

The second the ball hit Splint's hands however, it did not erase. In fact, it did quite the opposite, sucking Splint inside somehow with a large hiss. It then bounced backward, right into Satoshi's hand. He gave a grin. "All right! I caught a pirate!"

Jeff aggressively drew his trumpet. "What the hell did you do to Splint?"

Satoshi smirked cockily. "Nothing. He's perfectly fine, right in my vacuum ball." He held up the opaque ball. "Sorry, but he's not getting out unless you can defeat me." With a flash, he was gone, headed towards the other end of the prairie.

Jeff looked at Hiruto, who gave a nod. "Go on, I can take him."

Jeff gave a salute. "Good luck, captain." Then he was gone, racing after Satoshi.

He skidded to a stop, when he saw Satoshi waiting for him near a section of rocks. Jeff approached him cautiously. "You going to trap me in one of those little balls?"

The Ensign shook his head. "Nah, takes too much concentration to use more then one. How about a introduction instead?"

Jeff shrugged. "Sure. I'm Jeffery Forthright, the musician of the Peacekeeper Pirates. I ate the Kyoku Kyoku no mi, which lets me turn music into force. My favorite food is bacon, and my dream is to find the treasure of Monkey D. Luffy with my best friend!"

Satoshi's eyes were wide. "Wow! That's so cool! Um, my name's Satoshi Kuromaru. I'm an Ensign in the navy, um, my favorite food is rice, and my dream is to become a great hero! Oh, and I ate the Shinku Shinku no mi."

He then adopted a fighting stance. "And as a great hero, my first act will be to defeat you, the heinous pirate!"

Jeff grinned. "Bring it, string bean." He launched himself at Satoshi, swinging his flute directly at his head. To his shock, the Ensign didn't move a muscle.

The flute was suddenly sucked to one side, caught in a whirling patch of air next to Satoshi's hand. He grinned and, with a gesture, shot the flute out, sending Jeff stumbling backwards. "Oh, didn't I mention? I'm a vacuum man- I can create true vacuums, devoid of all matter, with just a wave of my hand. But the fun doesn't stop there!" His eyes narrowing, he pointed at Jeff. "Physical attack users have no chance of damaging me, thanks to my ability. And, as I'm assuming you're a swordsman, you've got no luck."

Jeff smirked, putting his flute away. "Well, you know what they say: When you assume, you make an ass out of u and me." He drew his trumpet. "Fortissimo!"

A burst of force erupted out of the trumpet, knocking Satoshi of his feet. Groaning, he got up rubbing his head. "How'd you do that?"

Jeff sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Kid, weren't you listening? Tune-Tune fruit. Music power. Hooray."

Satoshi quickly charged him, bringing his hand back for a punch. "Then You'll be disadvantaged in close combat?"

The fist was stopped by Jeff's flute. "Bro, are you totally reckless, or just stupid? You just assumed I was a swordsman 30 seconds ago." With a slash of his clarinet, he opened a bloody line down Satoshi's arm.

Clutching it, the boy fell back. "Damn it, you dick, that hurts!" He gritted his teeth and lifted his hand off the wound, placing both of them forward in front of his body. "But a true hero doesn't feel any pain!" Taking a deep breath, Satoshi closed his eyes, and the air in front of his began to warp. With a flash, he opened them. "Vacuum Missile!"

Jeff dove aside as a large, whirling white ball was shot at him. To his surprise, he was dragged after it, and only stopped once he hit one of the nearby boulders. Gritting his teeth from the pain, he rolled to one side as Satoshi delivered a extremely powerful kick, cracking the rock. He pulled out his trumpet and yelled, "Acesso!" launching a blazing fireball at Satoshi.

Instead of dodging, Satoshi merely held out his hand to the side as a vacuum formed there, sucking the flames inside. "Alright, time I try a little. Whit must be almost done by now."

Jeff growled. "Yeah right, like that's going to happen." He attempted to charge towards Satoshi, only to find himself stuck to thin air. "What the hell?"

Satoshi grinned. "Vacuum: Spider web. Sorry, but you're done." He put one closed fist in front of him, then opened it. 'Vacuum: Splitter!"

Jeff screamed as a huge barrage of tiny vortex came at him. As each one hit, they suck bits of flesh towards them, literally tearing it apart. The musician slumped to the ground, bleeding red.

Satoshi turned away, pulling out a transponder snail. "Sorry, man. If it's any consolation, you probably suffered less then your captain. He doesn't stand a chance." He turned as he heard a noise.

Jeff was standing, ignoring the many cuts on his body. "Shut…up. Hiruto will be the greatest captain in history, and there's no way your shitty Lt. could beat him!" He pulled out his clarinet and flute, holding the clarinet in his right and the trumpet and flute in his left. "And to prove it, I'm going to beat you. I'm going to go all out!"

A wind rushed suddenly across the battlefield, raising a curtain of dust and hiding Jeff from view. Satoshi peered forward, then started back as he felt the immense pulses of force coming from the cloud. He growled and launched several vacuums at the smoke. "What are you doing?"

The vacuums sucked away the smoke, revealing a eerie sight. Jeff no longer had to clutch the trumpet and flute in one hand, as he had three sets now, 4 extra arms protruding from his torso. In addition, two shadowy faces emerged from each side of the original. Jeff, the air around him whipping, held each instrument in one set of hands, glaring at Satoshi.

Satoshi backed off, looking a little intimated. "Heh, nice. That's Roronoa Zoro signature move, the Asura, isn't it."

The creature that bore Jeff's face nodded, all three heads speaking at the same time. "Yes, but I've tweaked it a little. This is a Forthright original. Asura Concerto!" He put all three instruments to all three lips. "Goodbye, Satoshi Kuromaru. Sforzado Uniso!"

The blast that followed dwarfed the other. A wave of force bigger then a house sent Satoshi flying. He landed and struggled to his feet, only to meet a hail of sound bullets ripping into him. "Staccato Uniso!"

The Asura Concerto approached Satoshi, who ran to meet it. "No way am I losing! A hero never loses!"

With a look in it's eyes almost like pity, the Asura aimed it's instruments. "Finale-Tremolo Timbre!" The very ground shook from the force of the attack, as a wave of earth rose up and smacked Satoshi, sending him down. Hard.

The Asura state then faded, as Jeff ran over to Satoshi's still form. "Oh, god, please don't be dead. I don't wanna kill a little kid!"

To his shock, Satoshi struggled to his feet. He coughed weakly. "I'm not a little kid. And lesson for you, pirate. A hero always has a secret move." He smashed his fists together as hard as he could. "Infinity Vortex…One Million Blades!"

Just like Jeff, a wave of dust rose to cover the transformation. Unlike Jeff, once the dust settled, Satoshi had not changed. In his hands, however, he held a sword. Well, it was more accurate to say he held a hole in the shape of a sword. There was nothing in that shape-water, steel, or even a swirling cover of air just like his previous attacks. Just emptiness.

Jeff, trying to hide his apprehension, snorted. "One Million Blades? That's one, bro. Can't you count?"

Satoshi gave a large grin remarkably similar to Whit's. " A lot better then you, pirate."

He slashed the air in front of him, somehow creating a sword-shaped cut in the air, looking almost exactly like his sword. Jeff was sucked right onto the cut. With a heave, Satoshi ripped it right out of Jeff's body, as it cut him like a real sword.

Jeff collapsed to his knees, holding the cut on his chest as Satoshi wriggled a second sword at him. "You see? All of the cuts I make in the air become swords, bladed vacuums that I can rip right out of you! And every cut is one new sword!"

With the two swords, Satoshi slashed a flower-shaped pattern in the air, then as Jeff was dragged onto the cuts, ripped the blades out of him. "Lotus slice!"

Jeff spat up a mouthful of blood, then collapsed, absolutely defeated. "Hiruto…I'm sorry."

Satoshi tossed the blades up into the air, where they vanished. "Good fight, Pirate. That was fun. Now, it's time to go get your bounty."

"No. Stop right there." A new voice proclaimed. "You're not going anywhere."

Satoshi turned to see a tall, lanky girl wearing a whip striding towards him. "Awww, downer. I can't fight a girl! Who are you, anyway?"

The girl snapped her whip. "My name is Jacquotte di Jackal. And I'm here cause I owe the idiot you trapped in that ball a favor." She lashed the whip towards Satoshi, using her long arm to extend the reach.

He jumped back to avoid it, but was too slow to avoid the follow-up lash as it hit his leg, numbing it. "Paralyzer!"

Satoshi almost collapsed once he hit the ground, his injuries catching up to him. "Come on, can't you go away? A hero doesn't hit ladies!"

Jacquotte noticed her whip tugging her towards one of the rocks, so she sent it flying. "Might be a stretch to describe me as a lady. Goldberg!"

Her whip knocked off a rock from the tip of a boulder on a nearby slope. Satoshi, despite his numerous wounds, still managed to smirk at her. "Nah nah, ya missed."

"Wasn't aiming at you." Jaquotte replied. "Watch."

The rock fell, dislodging another, larger rock, which hit a tree branch wedged underneath a boulder, which dislodged the boulder, which dislodged more boulders, which sent an entire avalanche flying down the slope at Satoshi. He gulped and dove out of the way, but still got clocked a few times.

When the dust settled, Satoshi was on his hands and knees. "I surrender!"

Jacquotte looked confused. "What?"

"I can't fight a girl, no matter what. It goes against my code."

Jacquotte meaningfully snapped her whip again. "Then release our friend."

Satoshi nodded, pulling out the ball and sending Splint shooting out of it, landing in a heap next to Jacquotte. She looked at him sideways. "No tricks?"

Satoshi looked wounded. "A hero never uses deceit, or runs away, or cheats in any fashion! If I surrender, that means I lose. You're free to take me as your prisoner." He held out his hands dramatically.

Splint got up, rubbing his head. "Yeah, I don't think so. Scram, kid."

Satoshi's jaw dropped. "Wow, you're letting me go! Thanks! I owe you a favor, man!" With a flash of light, he was gone, probably to meet Whit.

As Splint gathered Jeff onto his back, he flashed a grin at Jacquotte. "You know, I could hear and see everything inside that ball."

She paused in winding up her whip. "Yeah, so?"

"So, you've clearly fallen head over heels for me. I can't say I'm surprised, I am devishly attractive."

Jacquotte slugged him in the gut, doubling him over, and settled Jeff more firmly on his back. "Not even close, lover boy. I have my own reasons. Anyway, come on. If that Whit dude is anywhere near as strong as the guy Jeff fought, your Captain is in a whole world of trouble."

* * *

AN: Wow, I'm glad I finally wrote that. It's been tugging on my brain for a while now to write this fight, especially because of the moves. I love final moves. Anyway, next chapter, the duel between the Marines and the Peacekeeper Pirates concludes, in Radiar Island Part 3: The Cloud Tyrant vs. The Viridicent Blitz! Don't miss it!

On a side note, hits let me know people are reading it. Reviews let me know people are enjoying it. I'm not one of those idiots who's all like "Oh, I'm not going to write untill I get more reviews!" No. But reviews do give me more drive to write, becuase if I know people are enjoying this, then it's a lot more fun to write. So, if you enjoyed this awesome chapter, you know what to do. Read, Review, and enjoy-_Firefox56_


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